Gary Brooker Dead Procol Harum Whiter Shade of Pale Rock Hall Inducted

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame honored Procol Harum when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was inducted into the new Singles category in 2018. The rare 1967 music video follows (1:45). Whiter Shade of Pale is one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. The rock band's organist/vocalist frontman Gary Brooker died at his Surrey, UK home from cancer on February 19, 2022, at age 76. Rest in Peace.

A statement posted on the band’s official website said: “With the deepest regret we must announce the death on February 19, 2022, of Gary Brooker MBE, singer, pianist and composer of Procol Harum, and a brightly-shining, irreplaceable light in the music industry.”

“His first single with Procol Harum, 1967’s #WhiterShadeOfPale is widely regarded as defining The Summer of Love, yet it could scarcely have been more different from the characteristic records of that era,” Procol Harum said in a group statement. “Nor was it characteristic of his own writing. Over thirteen albums #ProcolHarum never sought to replicate it, preferring to forge a restlessly progressive path, committed to looking forward, and making each record a ‘unique entertainment’.” #GaryBrooker RIP

Update March 2023: Keith Reid, who wrote the lyrics for Procol Harum’s original songs, usually working in tandem with pianist/music composer Gary Brooker, died on March 23, 2023. Reid provided the words for Procol Harum’s best-known hit, 1967’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” as well as such rock classics as “A Salty Dog,” “Shine on Brightly” and “Grand Hotel.”

The cause of death was cancer. In an email sent to the writer's friends, Reid’s death was confirmed by his wife Pinkey.

Born Oct. 19, 1946, in Hertfordshire, England, Reid grew up in London and in 1966 began collaborating with Brooker when his previous band the Paramounts morphed into Procol Harum. “A Whiter Shade of Pale” was one of the pair’s earliest compositions, and it sold remarkably well around the world, reaching #1 in their native U.K. as well as Australia, Canada, and several European countries, and #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart in the U.S.

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