Bobby Whitlock, a rock music legend best known as a co-founding member of Derek and the Dominos, has died. He was 77.
Whitlock died Sunday morning Aug. 10 at 1:20 a.m. after a short battle with cancer, his manager, Carol Kaye, told Variety.
Whitlock’s wife, Coco Carmel Whitlock, wrote in a statement to CBS News, “How do you express in but a few words the grandness of one man who came from abject poverty in the south to heights unimagined in such a short time?”
“As he would always say: ‘Life is what you make it, so take it and make it beautiful.’ And he did,” she wrote. “Farewell my Love, I’ll see you in my dreams.”
Eric Clapton, with whom Whitlock founded Derek and the Dominos, shared the musician’s death on his Facebook page.
“Our dear friend Bobby Whitlock, has passed away at 77, our sincere condolences to Bobby’s wife CoCo and his family on this sad day…. RIP Bobby,” Clapton wrote in a post.
Whitlock and Clapton co-founded Derek and the Dominos in 1970 alongside keyboardist-singer Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. The band’s only full-length release, 1971’s “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,” is considered to be one of rock’s greatest albums.
“That thing was like lightning in a bottle,” Whitlock told Best Classic Bands in 2015. “We did one club tour, we did one photo session, then we did a tour of a bit larger venues. We did one American tour. Then we did one failed attempt at a second albums.”
Whitlock said “everybody was doing entirely too much drugs and alcohol,” which led to the band splitting up after a year.
In addition to co-founding the pioneering rock band, Whitlock also played on albums with legendary musical acts including George Harrison and The Rolling Stones. He also made history as the first white artist to be signed to Stax Records, and he played alongside the likes of Booker T. and the MG’s and Sam & Dave.
“Rest Easy my friend,” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Byrd wrote on X. “We certainly lost a gem today. Bobby Whitlock, a real mensch and a sweetheart. Carol was his manager, so we knew the score for a few moths but it’s still a shock. What a player and what a voice he had. My condolences to Carol, Coco and his entire family.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that my longtime friend Bobby Whitlock has died. We had a lot of great times together in Hollywood, Memphis and Mississippi,” Hall of Fame songwriter Jack Tempchin wrote on X. “I will miss him a lot!!! Thanks Bobby, for all the great times.”
Aside from his wife, Whitlock is survived by his three children, according to CBS News.
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