Legendary singer/bassist for the 60’s british supergroup Cream, Jack Bruce, has died according to his family via Facebook.
Bruce, 71, was reported by the Scotland Herald to have passed away of liver disease, “today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family,” according to Bruce’s publicist in a statement to Rolling Stone.
The iconic trio, led by Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker, not only helped to change the face of rcok and roll music by combining blues guitar, jazz influenced drumming, and Bruce’s operatic vocals, along with artist like Jimi Hendrix helped popularize the wah-wah pedal. Cream’s style helped to influence other Legendary bands such as Led Zepplin and Black Sabbath.
In 1968, Bruce began a successful solo career which included 14 albums, starting with 1969’s Song’s For a Tailor.
In 1993, Bruce and the rest of his band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They reunited for a short stint in 2005 for a very triumphant concert series at London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York’s Madison Square Garden, and eventually received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006.
Bruce dropped his most recent album, Silver Rails, in March of 2014.
In the Facebook post, Bruce’s family said,
“the world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts.”