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Bobby Whitlock, a rock music legend best known as a co-founding member of Derek and the Dominos, has died. He was 77.<\/p>\n
Whitlock died Sunday morning Aug. 10 at 1:20 a.m. after a short battle with cancer, his manager, Carol Kaye, told Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whitlock\u2019s wife, Coco Carmel Whitlock, wrote in a statement to CBS News<\/a>, \u201cHow 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?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs he would always say: \u2018Life is what you make it, so take it and make it beautiful.\u2019 And he did,\u201d she wrote. \u201cFarewell my Love, I\u2019ll see you in my dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Eric Clapton, with whom Whitlock founded Derek and the Dominos, shared the musician\u2019s death on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n \u201cOur dear friend Bobby Whitlock, has passed away at 77, our sincere condolences to Bobby\u2019s wife CoCo and his family on this sad day\u2026. RIP Bobby,” Clapton wrote in a post<\/a>.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s only full-length release, 1971\u2019s \u201cLayla and Other Assorted Love Songs,\u201d is considered to be one of rock\u2019s greatest albums.<\/p>\n \u201cThat thing was like lightning in a bottle,\u201d Whitlock told Best Classic Bands in 2015. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Whitlock said \u201ceverybody was doing entirely too much drugs and alcohol,\u201d which led to the band splitting up after a year.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s and Sam & Dave.<\/p>\n \u201cRest Easy my friend,\u201d Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ricky Byrd wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cWe 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\u2019s still a shock. What a player and what a voice he had. My condolences to Carol, Coco and his entire family.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m 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,\u201d Hall of Fame songwriter Jack Tempchin wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cI will miss him a lot!!! Thanks Bobby, for all the great times.\u201d<\/p>\n Aside from his wife, Whitlock is survived by his three children, according to CBS News.<\/p>\nMore music content<\/h2>\n