Joe Cocker (born May 20, 1944) is a pop music singer.
He started his musical career in the city of his birth Sheffield, England in some minor bands at the age of 15: the first band was the Avengers (under the stage name Vance Arnold), then Big Blues (1963), and then The Grease Band (1966). In 1969 he was featured on the American TV program The Ed Sullivan Show.
His first big hit was the song "With a Little Help from My Friends," a cover of the song by The Beatles off the Sgt. Pepper's album. The same year he appeared at the Woodstock Music Festival. He had further success covering Beatles tunes with his cover of their song "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" off their Abbey Road album. Other early hits included "Cry Me a River" and "Feelin' Alright".
Onstage, he often exhibited a physical intensity as he sang, and his unique stage presence was often spoofed by comedian John Belushi.
In the beginning of 1970s he had problems with drugs and alcohol that obviously had a bad influence on his musical career. Luckily he managed to make a comeback in the 1980s and 1990s with several massive chart hits like:
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