Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, who co-wrote Whiter Shade of Pale, dies at 76
- The song launched the Summer of Love in 1967, and captivated a generation with its psychedelic lyrics and melancholy tone
- The singer-songwriter, who led Procol Harum throughout its 55-year-history, had been receiving treatment for cancer and died at home
Gary Brooker, whose Whiter Shade of Pale launched the Summer of Love in 1967, has died, his bandmates in Procol Harum announced on Tuesday.
Brooker, who was 76, had been receiving treatment for cancer and died at home, the band said in a statement.
The singer-songwriter led Procol Harum throughout its 55-year-history, and the song, which he co-wrote, eventually sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and was honoured in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.
The song’s psychedelic lyrics and melancholy tone captivated listeners of the baby boom generation. Though Brooker had his roots in the blues, he derived inspiration for that first hit from Johann Sebastian Bach.
“If you trace the chordal element, it does a bar or two of Bach’s Air on a G String before it veers off,” he said in a 2014 interview with Uncut magazine, cited by The Guardian.