Joe cocker singer biography
Home / Celebrity Biographies / Joe cocker singer biography
The song climbed and climbed and eventually topped the UK singles chart on November 9, 1968.
How did Joe Cocker end up covering so many Beatles songs?
Joe Cocker - She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (Live)
The Beatles were undoubtedly the biggest band of the 1960s, and arguably the biggest band of all time.
While Joe Cocker could certainly write his own songs, he was most famous as an interpreter of existing work, bringing his gravelly, passionate voice to the table.
So it's no surprise that he took on The Beatles more than once in his stellar career.
His version of 'A Little Help From My Friends' was so good that Paul McCartney was happy to let him cover Abbey Road songs 'She Came in Through The Bathroom Window' on his second album Joe Cocker! while George Harrison was pleased to have him cover 'Something'.
And as late as 2007, Cocker returned to The Beatles to record a cover of John Lennon's 'Come Together' for the soundtrack of Across The Universe.
What famous festivals did Joe Cocker perform at?
Joe Cocker - Let's Go Get Stoned (LIVE in Woodstock) HD
I mean, what famous festivals didn't Joe Cocker perform at.
Cocker and The Grease Band toured with major artists like The Who, Gene Pitney and Marmalade before answering the call of the outdoors.
Joe played the Newport Rock Festival and Denver Pop Festival before the big one.
His name was originally John.
He was the youngest son of civil servant, Harold Norman Cocker (1907–2001) and Madge (née Lee).
He got his nickname of Joe either from playing a childhood game called 'Cowboy Joe', or from a local window cleaner named Joe.
Joe's biggest musical influences growing up were Ray Charles and Lonnie Donegan.
His first experience singing in public was when he was aged 12, when his older brother Victor invited him on stage to sing during a gig of his skiffle group.
Who was Joe Cocker's wife and did he have children?
From 1963, Joe Cocker began dating Eileen Webster from Sheffield for 13 years, but they separated permanently in 1976.
In 1978, Cocker moved onto a ranch owned by Jane Fonda in Santa Barbara, California.
His producer Denny Cordell had got wind of the upcoming Woodstock Festival and cajoled Artie Kornfeld into putting them on the bill,
Along with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Santana, The Who, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Sly and the Family Stone and Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker's was a standout performance at the festival when they took to the stage on Sunday afternoon.
Joe Cocker's Woodstock setlist was as follows:
- Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring?
(The Grease Band without Joe)
- 40,000 Headmen (The Grease Band without Joe)
- Dear Landlord
- Something's Goin' On
- Do I Still Figure in Your Life
- Feelin' Alright
- Just Like a Woman
- Let's Go Get Stoned
- I Don't Need No Doctor
- I Shall Be Released
- Hitchcock Railway
- Something to Say
- With a Little Help from My Friends
And he wasn't done.
He generated such seminal hits as “Feelin’ Alright,” “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” “The Jealous Kind,” “You Are So Beautiful,” “Up Where We Belong,” “When The Night Comes,” “Unchain My Heart,” and then unforgettable “High Time We Went,” which was co-written by Cocker himself.
Joe Cocker proved himself to be a man for all seasons and a voice for all emotions.
He was also a famed live performer, easily racking up over 2,500 concerts.
Joe Cocker's biggest songs included:
- With a Little Help from My Friends
- Delta Lady
- She Came In Through the Bathroom Window
- The Letter
- Cry Me a River
- Bird on the Wire
- High Time We Went
- Feeling Alright
- Midnight Rider
- Woman to Woman
- You Are So Beautiful
- I'm So Glad I'm Standing Here Today (with The Crusaders)
- Up Where We Belong (with Jennifer Warnes)
- Unchain My Heart
- (All I Know) Feels Like Forever
- The Simple Things
- Take Me Home (with Bekka Bramlett)
- Let the Healing Begin
- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
- Never Tear Us Apart
How did Joe Cocker end up singing the theme for The Wonder Years?
The Wonder Years 1988 - 1993 Opening and Closing Theme (With Snippets)
We didn't know it at the time, but The Wonder Years was one of the all-time great sitcoms.
Running for six seasons from 1988 to 1993, it starred Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold, navigating young adulthood in the late 1960s and early 1970s, mashing up laughter and tears in equal measure.
The Beatles were an obvious choice for the soundtrack, but the show went a little better in choosing Joe Cocker's version – the song that made him a star and closed his stunning Woodstock set.
"The story I got was that they showed Paul McCartney the pilot with them singing their version of it, and Paul McCartney made a call to Apple Records and said, 'If you’re ever going to let The Beatles be used on television, this is the show'," said actor Dan Lauria, who played Jack Arnold on the show.
"Apple Records said, 'Ya know what, we’ll let them use the song, but we’re not going to let them use the version of you singing it'.
no, not that one, but 'I'll Cry Instead', from A Hard Day's Night.
He then changed the name of his group to Joe Cocke's Blues Band, but they soon fell apart. That’s the difference between being a singer and an artist. Anyone who saw him live will never forget him."
What awards did Joe Cocker win?
During his lifetime, Joe Cocker was showered with awards and accolades in recognition of his tremendous talent.
Joe won a Grammy Award in 1983 Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for 'Up Where We Belong', which he recoded with Jennifer Warnes.
In later years he racked up a clutch of further nominations at the Grammys, and a further nod from the Brits in 1993.
In 2007, Joe was appointed an OBE, and in 2025 Joe Cocker was finally inducted as a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Inducted:
2025
Category:
Performer
Inducted By:
Brian Adams
Sheffield, England’s own Joe Cocker set a new standard for rock interpretation, redefining classics like “The Letter” and “With a Little Help From My Friends” with his own indelible stamp.
So they got Joe Cocker to sing it.
"Now, I don’t know if Paul McCartney recommended Joe Cocker, but supposedly, and I’ve heard this a couple times, that he [McCartney] was the one that made the call after seeing the pilot before it was put on the air."
Was Joe Cocker married and did he have any children?
90Joe Cocker had an on-and-off relationship with fellow Sheffielder Eileen Webster that lasted over a decade.
It was when he was living at Jane Fonda's ramnch in Santa Barara that he met local camp director Pam Baker in 1978.
As a recording artist, he repeatedly reinvented himself, never leaving the airwaves. A year later, Cocker signed a solo deal with Decca.
His first single was a Beatles cover... They hooked up and eventually married on October 11, 1987.
The couple didn't have any children together, but Joe had a stepdaughter from Pam's previous relationship.
How did Joe Cocker die and how old was he?
A former heavy smoker until he quit in 1991, Joe Cocker died of lung cancer on December 22, 2014.
His reputation as a spellbinding performer, ace rock song interpreter and emotive balladeer grew through the ‘80s and ‘90s, on movie soundtracks and stages worldwide.
Joe was the most powerful rock & roll interpretive male singer I had heard since first hearing the iconic early recordings of Ray Charles.
Billy Joel
Paper artifacts
more from therock & rollhall of famearchives
Shop the Class of 2025
Shop the Class of 2025
Products loading
Joe Cocker facts: Singer's wife, children, career and death explained
20 July 2022, 13:52
Joe Cocker was one of the most talented singers of his generation, with one of the most recognisable voices ever.
The English singer was best known for his gritty and bluesy singing voice, and for his expressive body movements while performing on stage.
The majority of his biggest hit songs were covers of hits by other artists, though he also wrote a number of his own tracks too, alongside songwriting partner Chris Stainton.
His debut album featured a stunning cover of the Beatles' 'With a Little Help from My Friends', which saw become an overnight star around the world.
Joe Cocker's best-selling song was the US number one single 'Up Where We Belong', a duet with Jennifer Warnes from the soundtrack of An Officer and a Gentleman.
In 1993, he was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male, and later received an OBE for services to music.
How old was Joe Cocker and where was he born?
Joe Cocker was born on May 20, 1944 in Crookes, Sheffield.
He then joined forces with Chris Stainton to form The Grease Band.
Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends (Live)
The band fell apart and reformed with some new faces (though Stainton stayed), and in 1968 he recorded another Beatles song, 'With A Little Help From My Friends', which had just been released on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band.
Cocker offered up a much grittier take than the original Ringo Starr vocals.
He was awarded an OBE in 2007.
Impact
Signature Sound
Rock’s Primal Soulful Interpreter
Joe Cocker’s gritty, soul-drenched voice emerged via his big brother’s late ‘50s skiffle band, and in smoky, early ‘60s pubs where he sang blues standards.
He is buried in the town cemetery in Crawford, Colorado.
How did Joe Cocker get his stage movements from?
Joe Cocker was known for his unique stage performances, where he would often flail his arms about, and play air guitar.
Joe later explained that this was just his way of feeling the music he was singing, as he didn't have an instrument.
Speaking to The Guardian, he explained: “I guess that came with my frustration at never having played piano or guitar.
"If you see me nowadays I’m not quite so animated, but it’s just a way of trying to get feeling out – I get excited and it all comes through my body.”
The band had some local success, and even supported The Rolling Stones at Sheffield City Hall in 1963.
Less than two weeks later he was back in the UK, playing a set at the Isle of Wight Festival.
Cocker even returned to Woodstock in 1994 to play a well-received set at Woodstock '94.
What were Joe Cocker's biggest songs?
Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes - Up where we belong 1983
It wasn't all Beatles songs.
Joe Cocker was a once-in-a century artist – a songwriter’s dream come true.