Singer-songwriter Gary Brooker, best known for the 1967 single “A Whiter Shade of Pale” as part of British rock band Procol Harum, has died at the age of 76, his representative confirmed to CNN Wednesday.
A statement on a fan website, procolharum.com, said the musician had been undergoing treatment for cancer but “died peacefully at home” on Saturday. Brooker’s representative, Wayne Forte, told CNN the statement had been approved by Brooker’s family. “Gary’s voice and piano were the single defining constant of Procol’s fifty-year international concert career,” the statement said. “Without any stage antics or other gimmicks he was invariably the most watchable musician in the show.” Brooker co-wrote Procol Harum’s first single, “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” the same year he co-founded the band with lyricist Keith Reid.
