Joe Cocker: 'A volcanic eruption in pop music'

The singer, who died aged 70 last week, was the first English performer to really sound black.

Joe Cocker was one of the great voices of the rock era. In terms of hits and statistics, he may be a minor player with a few fabulous records to his credit, but to a generation of music lovers who felt the full force of his performance, Cocker is and always will be one of the definitive singers.

A big, loud, gruff, bluesy, boozy Sheffield character, he injected some American soul into the English beat scene, the first white English singer to really sound black. Cocker moved beyond the fluid soul of Sam Cooke and jazzy extemporisation of Ray Charles to just lose himself in the musical moment.