Joe Cocker: Sheffield rock icon to be inducted into Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame
One of Sheffield’s most famous music icons is to become the latest star to be inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame.
Joe Cocker has been announced as the latest name to be added to the list of stars, alongside Chubby Checker and Bad Company, Cyndi Lauper, hip-hop pioneers Outkast, The White Stripes and Soundgarden.
The former plumber from Crookes is famous for his performance at the famous Woodstock festival in the 1960s and was best known for his cover of The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends. He also had a massive hit with the Gammy winning Up Where We Belong, a duet with Jennifer Warnes, in 1982.
His profile issued by the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame states: “Joe Cocker’s true genius lay in his rare ability to take someone else’s music and use his raw and powerful voice to make it uniquely his own.
“Joe Cocker was one of rock & roll’s most gifted and influential artists. With his distinctive, soulful voice and his singular talent as a song stylist, Cocker’s true genius lay in his rare ability to take someone else’s music and make it uniquely his own, captivating the imagination of millions of listeners.
“While Cocker was a songwriter himself, his interpretations of classics like “Feelin’ Alright” and “The Letter” redefined those songs, crafting their definitive versions and introducing them to new audiences. His iconic take on “With a Little Help From My Friends” was so transformative that it became a signature of Woodstock and an anthem of its era.”
It described his “raw and powerful” voice as “a rare instrument of pure passion – gritty and ravaged while also heartbreakingly tender.”
Over his forty-year career, Cocker released 23 studio albums and toured extensively, and he was rescribed as ‘reinventing himself while staying true to his intense, emotive style’. He released his final album, Fire It Up, in 2012, but sadly died from lung cancer in 2014.
It added that Billy Joel once said about Cocker: “In my opinion, no one has come even close to him as one of the great primal rock & roll vocalists of all time.”
Artists must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years before they are eligible for induction, and the ceremony will take place in Los Angeles in the autumn.
Nominees were voted on by more than 1,200 artists, historians and music industry professionals.
The selection criteria include their influence on other musicians, how innovative they were, and their longevity.
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