英国蓝调歌手乔·库克逝世

    Joe Cocker, whose intense, gritty voice won him wide acclaim that spanned both rock and blues, has died at age 70, his agent said on Monday.

    Cocker, who started off playing to small audiences in pubs in his native England, made a breakthrough when he jolted* the 1969 Woodstock festival by playing the Beatles’ “With a Little Help From My Friends.”

    “He was without doubt the greatest rock/soul voice ever to come out of Britain,” his agent, Barrie Marshall, said in a statement announcing his death on Sunday evening. “Hugely talented — a true star — but a kind and humble man who loved to perform,” he said.

    Marshall did not reveal his cause of death. The Yorkshire Post, the singer’s hometown newspaper in England, said that Cocker had been battling lung cancer and died in the U.S. Rocky Mountain state of Colorado, where he had long lived.

    Cocker’s image as a voice of his generation was enhanced when “The Wonder Years,” a popular U.S. television show launched in 1988 that looked back fondly at the 1960s, chose his version of “With a Little Help From My Friends” as its theme song.(SD-Agencies)