Early career and the Grease Band (1961–1969) In 1961, under the stage name "Vance Arnold", Cocker started a new group, Vance Arnold and the Avengers. performing
Chuck Berry and
Ray Charles songs. Cocker developed an interest in
blues music and sought out recordings by
John Lee Hooker,
Muddy Waters,
Lightnin' Hopkins and
Howlin' Wolf. In 1963, they booked their first significant gig when they supported
the Rolling Stones at
Sheffield City Hall. In 1964, Cocker signed a recording contract as a solo act with
Decca and released his debut single, a recording of
the Beatles' "
I'll Cry Instead" (with
Big Jim Sullivan and
Jimmy Page playing guitars). Despite extensive promotion from Decca lauding his youth and working-class roots, the record was a flop and his recording contract with Decca lapsed at the end of 1964. After Cocker recorded the single, he dropped his stage name and formed a new group, Joe Cocker's Blues Band. There is only one known recording of Joe Cocker's Blues Band on an EP given out by
The Sheffield College during Rag Week and called
Rag Goes Mad at the Mojo. In 1966, after a year-long hiatus from music, Cocker teamed up with
Chris Stainton, whom he had met several years before, to form
the Grease Band. and
Gene Pitney and
Marmalade in early winter 1969, the Grease Band embarked on their first tour of the US in spring 1969. Cocker's album
With a Little Help from My Friends was released soon after their arrival and made number 35 on the American charts, eventually going gold. in 1969 During his US tour, Cocker played at several large festivals, including the
Newport Rock Festival and the
Denver Pop Festival. In August, Denny Cordell heard about the planned concert in
Woodstock, New York and convinced organiser
Artie Kornfeld to book Cocker and the Grease Band for the
Woodstock Festival. The group had to be flown into the festival by helicopter due to the large crowds. They performed several songs, including "
Feelin' Alright?", "Something's Comin' On", "
Let's Go Get Stoned", "
I Shall Be Released" and "With a Little Help from My Friends". Cocker would later say that the experience was "like an eclipse ... it was a very special day." Directly after Woodstock, Cocker released his second album,
Joe Cocker! Impressed by his version of "With a Little Help from My Friends",
Paul McCartney and
George Harrison allowed Cocker to use their songs "
She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" and "
Something" for the album. Recorded during a break in touring in the spring and summer, the album reached number 11 on the US charts and garnered a second UK
hit with the
Leon Russell song, "
Delta Lady". In August 1969, Cocker performed at the
Isle of Wight Festival at
Wootton Bridge, Isle of Wight, England. Throughout 1969 he was featured on variety TV shows like
The Ed Sullivan Show and
This Is Tom Jones. Onstage, he exhibited an idiosyncratic physical intensity, flailing his arms and playing
air guitar. At the end of the year Cocker was unwilling to embark on another US tour, so he dissolved the Grease Band.
Mad Dogs & Englishmen (1970–1971) Despite Cocker's reluctance to venture out on the road again, an American tour had already been booked so he had to quickly form a new band to fulfill his contractual obligations. It proved to be a large group of more than 20 musicians, including pianist and bandleader
Leon Russell, three drummers –
Jim Gordon,
Jim Keltner, and Chuck Blackwell, and backing vocalists
Rita Coolidge and
Claudia Lennear. Denny Cordell christened the new band "Mad Dogs & Englishmen", after the
Noël Coward song of the same name (with its refrain, "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun"). Cocker's music evolved into a more bluesy type of rock, comparable to that of
the Rolling Stones. During the ensuing Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour (later described by drummer Jim Keltner as "a big, wild party"), Cocker toured 48 cities, recorded a live album, and received positive reviews from
Time and
Life for his performances. However, the pace of the tour was exhausting. Russell and Cocker had personal problems; Cocker became depressed and began drinking excessively as the tour wound down in May 1970. Meanwhile, he enjoyed several chart entries in the United States with cover versions of "
Feelin' Alright" (originally recorded by
Traffic) and "
Cry Me a River". His version of
the Box Tops' hit "
The Letter", which appeared on the live album and film,
Mad Dogs & Englishmen, became his first US Top Ten
hit. After spending several months in Los Angeles, Cocker returned home to Sheffield, where his family became increasingly concerned with his deteriorating physical and
mental health. In the summer of 1971,
A&M Records released the single "High Time We Went". This became a hit, reaching number 22 on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart, but was not issued on an album until November 1972 on Cocker's
self-titled album.
On the road (1972–1979) In early 1972, after nearly two years away from music, Cocker went on tour with a group that Chris Stainton had formed. He opened with a performance in
Madison Square Garden which was attended by about 20,000 people. After touring the United States, he embarked on a European tour where he played to large audiences in
Milan and Germany. He then returned to the United States for another tour in autumn 1972. During these tours the group cut the songs that would be part of his newest album, a
self-titled release. A mixture of live songs and studio recordings, the album peaked at number 30 on the US charts. , Dublin In October 1972, when Cocker toured Australia, he and six members of his entourage were arrested in
Adelaide for possession of
marijuana. The next day, in
Melbourne, assault charges were laid after a brawl at the Commodore Chateau Hotel, and the
Australian Federal Police gave Cocker 48 hours to leave the country. This caused huge public outcry in Australia, as Cocker was a high-profile overseas artist and had a strong support base, especially among the
baby boomers who were coming of age and able to vote for the first time. It sparked hefty debate about the use and legalisation of marijuana in Australia, and gained Cocker the nickname "the Mad Dog". Shortly after the Australian tour, Stainton retired from his music career to establish his own recording studio. After his friend's departure and his estrangement from his longtime producer Denny Cordell, Cocker sank into depression and began using heroin. In June 1973, he kicked the habit but continued to drink heavily. At the end of 1973, Cocker returned to the studio to record a new album,
I Can Stand a Little Rain. The album, released in August 1974, was number 11 on the US charts and one single, a recording of
Billy Preston's "
You Are So Beautiful", reached the number 5 slot. Despite positive reviews for the album, Cocker struggled with live performances, largely due to his problems with alcohol. One such instance was reported in a 1974 issue of
Rolling Stone, which said that during two
West Coast performances in October of that year he threw up onstage. In January 1975, he released a second album that had been recorded at the same time as
I Can Stand a Little Rain,
Jamaica Say You Will. To promote his new album, Cocker embarked on another tour of Australia, made possible by the country's new
Labor government. In late 1975, he contributed vocals on a number of the tracks on
Bo Diddley's ''The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll
all-star album. He also recorded a new album in a Kingston, Jamaica studio, Stingray''. However, record sales were disappointing; the album reached only number 70 on the US charts. In May 1976, Cocker headlined an 11-date tour of Canada, and on 2 October, Cocker performed "Feelin' Alright" on
Saturday Night Live.
John Belushi joined him onstage doing his famous impersonation of Cocker's stage movements. At the time, Cocker was $800,000 in debt to
A&M Records and struggling with alcoholism. Several months later, he met producer
Michael Lang, who agreed to manage him on the condition that he stay sober. With a new band, Cocker embarked on a tour of New Zealand, Australia and South America. He then recorded a new album with
session work by
Steve Gadd and
Chuck Rainey. In the autumn of 1978, Cocker toured North America promoting his album,
Luxury You Can Afford. Despite this effort, it received mixed reviews, selling around 300,000 copies. In 1979, Cocker joined the "Woodstock in Europe" tour, which featured musicians like
Arlo Guthrie and
Richie Havens who had played at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. He also performed in New York's
Central Park to an audience of 20,000 people. The concert was recorded and released as the live album,
Live in New York.
1980s (1980–1989) In 1982, Cocker recorded two songs with the jazz group
the Crusaders on their album
Standing Tall. One song, "I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today", was nominated for a
Grammy Award and Cocker performed it with the Crusaders at the awards ceremony. The Crusaders wrote this song with Cocker in mind to sing it. Cocker then released a new reggae-influenced album,
Sheffield Steel, recorded with the
Compass Point All Stars, produced by
Chris Blackwell and
Alex Sadkin. Also in 1982, Cocker recorded the duet "
Up Where We Belong" with the American singer
Jennifer Warnes for the soundtrack of the film
An Officer and a Gentleman. The song was an international hit, reaching number 1 on the
Billboard Hot 100, and winning a
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo. The duet also won an
Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Cocker and Warnes performed the song at the awards ceremony. Several days later, he was invited to perform "
You Are So Beautiful" with
Ray Charles in a television tribute to the musician. In 1983, Cocker joined a star-studded line-up of British musicians, including
Jimmy Page,
Eric Clapton,
Jeff Beck,
Steve Winwood and
Bill Wyman for singer
Ronnie Lane's
1983 tour to raise money for the London-based organisation
Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis, in particular because Lane was beginning to suffer from the degenerative disease. While on another tour that year, Cocker was arrested by Austrian police after refusing to perform because of inadequate sound equipment. The charges were eventually dropped and Cocker was released. Shortly after the incident, he released his ninth studio album,
Civilized Man. His next album
Cocker was dedicated to his mother, Madge, who died when he was recording in the studio with producer
Terry Manning. A track from the album, a cover of
Randy Newman's "
You Can Leave Your Hat On", was featured in the 1986 film
9½ Weeks. The album eventually went Platinum on the European charts. His song "Love Lives On" was featured in the 1987 film
Harry and the Hendersons. His 1987 album
Unchain My Heart was nominated for a Grammy Award, although it did not win.
One Night of Sin was also a commercial success, surpassing
Unchain My Heart in sales and yielding his final Top 20 hit in the United States, "When The Night Comes", written by
Bryan Adams,
Jim Vallance and
Diane Warren that peaked at number 11 in January 1990. In 1984, Cocker released the song "Edge of a Dream", which was included on the soundtrack of the film
Teachers. In Brazil, the song became popular as part of the soundtrack of the soap opera
Corpo a Corpo, broadcast on
Rede Globo in 1985. Throughout the 1980s, Cocker continued to tour around the world, playing to large audiences in Europe, Australia and the United States. In 1986, he met the Italian singer
Zucchero Fornaciari, who dedicated a song (
Nuovo, meraviglioso amico, in
Rispetto) to the English bluesman. After that Cocker took part in some concerts of the promotional tours for the albums ''
Blue's (1987) and Oro Incenso & Birra'' (1989). In 1988, he performed at London's
Royal Albert Hall and appeared on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. After
Barclay James Harvest and
Bob Dylan, Cocker was the first to give rock concerts in the
German Democratic Republic, in
East Berlin and
Dresden. The venue, the
Blüherwiese, next to the
Rudolf–Harbig–Stadion, bears the vernacular name
Cockerwiese ('Cocker meadow') today. He also performed for US President
George H. W. Bush at an inauguration concert in 1989.
Later career (1990–2014) In 1992, Cocker's version of
Bryan Adams' "Feels Like Forever" made the
UK Top 40. Also in 1992, Cocker teamed with Canadian rocker
Sass Jordan to sing "Trust in Me", which was featured on
The Bodyguard soundtrack. At the 1993
Brit Awards, Cocker was nominated for British Male Solo Artist. Cocker performed the Saturday opening set at
Woodstock '94 as one of the few alumni who played at the original Woodstock Festival in 1969 and was well received. in
Hallandale Beach, Florida, in 2003 On 3 June 2002, Cocker performed "With A Little Help From My Friends" accompanied by
Phil Collins on drums and
Queen guitarist
Brian May at the
Party at the Palace concert in the grounds of
Buckingham Palace, an event in commemoration of the
Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II. In 2007, Cocker appeared playing minor characters in the film
Across the Universe, as the lead singer on another Beatles' hit, "
Come Together", Cocker was awarded an
OBE in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for services to music. To celebrate receiving his award in mid December 2007, Cocker played two concerts in London and in his home town of Sheffield where he was awarded a bronze
Sheffield Legends plaque outside
Sheffield Town Hall. In April and May 2009, Cocker conducted a North American tour in support of his album
Hymn for My Soul. He sang the vocals on "
Little Wing" for the
Carlos Santana album,
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, released on 21 September 2010. In the autumn of 2010, Cocker toured Europe promoting his studio album
Hard Knocks. In 2000, Cocker was the opening act in select cities in the United States and Europe for
Tina Turner's
Twenty Four Seven Tour. He returned to Australia in 2008 and again in 2011, the latter of which featured
George Thorogood and the Destroyers as an opening act. On 20 March 2011, Cocker took part in a benefit concert for
Cornell Dupree at
B.B. King's Blues Club in New York City. Dupree played on four Cocker albums:
I Can Stand A Little Rain (1974),
Jamaica Say You Will (1975),
Stingray (1976) and
Luxury You Can Afford (1978). Dupree's band Stuff was also Cocker's backing band on a tour promoting
Stingray in 1976. Cocker kept recording and touring throughout his later years. 2012's
Fire it up, which would turn out to be Cocker's last studio album, was followed by an extensive tour, consisting of a US leg in 2012 and a European run in 2013. He played 25 shows in Germany alone on the European leg of the tour, which reflects the popularity Cocker enjoyed there. The full show of 22 April at
Cologne's
Lanxess Arena was recorded and released on CD and DVD under the title
Fire it up Live later in 2013. The last concert on the tour, which was to be Cocker's final live performance, was at the
Loreley Open Air Theatre in
Sankt Goarshausen on 7 September 2013.
Tributes and acclaim In 1994, fellow Yorkshire musician
Philip Oakey, on behalf of his group,
the Human League, said that Cocker was their "hero". The two remaining living ex-Beatles,
Paul McCartney and
Ringo Starr, were among those who paid tribute to the singer following his death, while Cocker's agent, Barrie Marshall, said that Cocker was "without doubt the greatest rock/soul singer ever to come out of Britain". a Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen Memory Book was created by
Linda Wolf to celebrate the event. In late 2021, the feature-length documentary
Learning to Live Together was released documenting the reunion concert. In 2017, a feature-length documentary film about Cocker titled
Joe Cocker: Mad Dog with Soul was released.
Accolades • 1983:
25th Annual Grammy Award, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, with
Jennifer Warnes for "
Up Where We Belong" • 1988 Nominee:
Grammy Award for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance • 1989, 1990, 1991 Nominees:
Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance • 1993 Nominee:
Brit Award for Best British Male Solo Artist • 1994 Honorary Doctorate:
Sheffield Hallam University • 1996, 2013:
Goldene Kamera • 1998, 1999, 2013, 2014 Nominees:
Echo • 2007:
Order of the British Empire (OBE) • 2025:
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. == Personal life and death==