Gary Brooker, Singer and Keyboard Player for Procol Harum, Dies at 76

variety.com:

Chris Willman Music WriterGary Brooker, the frontman for Procol Harum, the long-running band most famous for 1967’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” died Saturday at age 76.

The cause of death was cancer.The surviving members announced Brooker’s death in an obituary on the group’s official website, writing that the “brightly shining, irreplaceable light in the music industry… had been receiving treatment for cancer, but died peacefully at home.”Brooker had been appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 2003.Prior to Procol Harum, Brooker had founded the Paramounts in 1962 with future British blues-rock legend Robin Trower.

He and Keith Reid formed Procol Harum in 1966, with Trower and organist Matthew Fisher as mainstays in the early days before they dropped out and left Brooker as the key driving force of the band.

Procol Harum broke up in 1977, but after becoming a solo artist and in-demand session man, Brooker led reunion tours in later decades.He appeared on George Harrison’s recently reissued classic “All Things Must Pass” album, and continued to work with the former Beatle on “Gone Troppo” and “Somewhere in England.” After Harrison’s death, he appeared at the “Concert for George” and sang the honoree’s “Old Brown Shoe.”In 1979, Brooker joined Eric Clapton’s touring band and appeared on the album “Another Ticket,” continuing to sit in with Clapton on special occasions through the years.He appeared on screen as an actor in Alan Parker’s film adaptation of the stage musical “Evita,” playing the role of Juan Atilo Bramuglia.“He lit up any room he entered, and his kindness to a multilingual family of fans was legendary,” the band wrote in its obituary.