MUMBAI: British rock and blues singer- Joe Cocker, who is best known for his cover of the Beatles track 'With a Little Help From My Friends', passed away on 22 December 2014 at the age of 70 from lung cancer. The news was announced by the late singer's manager Barrie Marshall.

Cocker's version of 'With a Little Help From My Friends' became a number one hit in England, and subsequently led him to perform the track live at Woodstock 1969. The performance became one of the major highlights of the festival and eventually brought him fame in the US. His cover was later used as the theme song for popular American TV show 'The Wonder Years'.

With a music career that spanned five decades, Cocker had various hits like 'You Are So Beautiful' and 'Up Where We Belong', a duet with Jennifer Warnes, which topped the Billboard singles chart and won him an Oscar and Grammy award. In 2008, the Sheffield-born singer was also presented with an OBE at Buckingham Palace for his services towards music.

Before finding fame, Cocker sang with a number of different bands in pubs all over England. He finally formed the Grease Band in 1966 with Chris Stainton, who later worked with Eric Clapton. The Grease Band also featured NEA Jazz Masters Award winner- Jimmy Smith.

Throughout his career, Cocker released 40 albums, and had tour dates scheduled for 2015. He was known for his "spasmodic" body movements and his gritty voice, and often covered songs by other artistes, particularly the Beatles. The prolific star eventually became such good friends with the 'Fab Four' that the band allowed him to play their new tracks before even recording them.

A number of musicians took to social media to pay tribute to the singer. Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr tweeted, "Goodbye and God bless to Joe Cocker from one of his friends peace and love."

Canadian singer Bryan Adams tweeted, "Joe Cocker has died. RIP my good friend, you were one of the best rock singers ever."

Kiss bassist Gene Simmons in a Twitter post said, "Sad to hear Joe Cocker has passed away. Our prayers go out to his family", while Aerosmith frontman said, "WE LOVED YOU FOREVER, WE WILL MISS YOU ALWAYS…RIP JOE CROCKER"

Tributes to the late artiste also poured in from Paul McCartney, former Boyzone member- Ronan Keating, singer songwriter- Frank Turner and Australian singer Delta Goodrem, among others.