Bobby Whitlock, who co-founded the pioneering rock band Derek and the Dominos alongside Eric Clapton and launched a successful solo career that involved participating in sessions for George Harrison, has died. He was 77.
Whitlock’s death on Sunday was confirmed by Clapton, who shared a photo of his old bandmate and lifelong friend on Facebook with the caption, “Our dear friend Bobby Whitlock, has passed away at 77, our sincere condolences to Bobby’s wife CoCo and his family on this sad day… RIP Bobby xxx.”
The musician’s manager, Carol Kaye, told Variety that Whitlock died at 1:20 a.m. on Sunday, after a brief battle with cancer.
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Bobby Whitlock and Eric Clapton perform with Derek and the Dominos in 1970
Whitlock was born on March 18, 1948, in Memphis, the epicenter of blues and soul music, from which the rock and roll that Whitlock helped pioneer would spring.
He made history young, becoming the first white musician to be signed to the legendary Stax Records label, which helped break the careers of Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Booker T. & the MG’s, and more.
“Everybody at Stax would come over to hear me play at the Cabaret Club at University,” Whitlock told The Los Angeles Beat in 2012. “Memphis was a great place to be at that point in time. Music was just everywhere. It was thick. There was always something going on. Great music was always being played or made by somebody. Arthur Conley or Wilson Pickett would be in town, and I always had my ear to the ground at what was happening at Stax.”
Whitlock would play locally alongside fellow Stax artists until meeting the collaborator who would change his life in 1969. That year, Whitlock joined the touring band of Delaney & Bonnie, the musical project of husband and wife team Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. Another member of that band was Eric Clapton, with whom he’d form the band Derek and the Dominos alongside bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon — also members of the Delaney & Bonnie touring group.
Whitlock sang and played keyboards for the short-lived band that nevertheless produced a sterling classic, 1970’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. Though the album’s signature single, “Layla,” is often credited solely to Clapton, the song originated with Derek and the Dominos. The album also produced the hits “Anyday,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” and “Tell the Truth,” all of which Whitlock co-wrote with Clapton.
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Jools Holland, Bobby Whitlock, and Eric Clapton in 2000
Whitlock would go on to participate in the sessions for George Harrison’s 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass and play John Lennon’s 1969 “Peace for Christmas” concert, and hit a Beatles trifecta by appearing on Doris Troy’s self-titled 1970 album, which was released by the iconic band’s Apple Records label.
The musician went solo in 1972 with a self-titled album that featured contributions from each of the Dominoes. He would release 14 albums as a solo artist, three of them live, one of them collected recordings, and six with CoCo Carmel, his partner of decades whom he married in 2005.
Whitlock was always good-natured about his sometimes being overlooked when the history of rock and roll is being written, telling Boomerocity in 2024, “I knew my input, and I was good with it. I was all right with myself, whether anybody ever acknowledged anything I’ve ever done or not, I was good with it. I’ve got a great life. I paint every day. I’m really good with doing what I do. It’s just another extension of who I am. And I’ve been blessed in each and every way, everywhere I turn around, you know, it’s just nothing but a blessing for me.”
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