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Bobby Whitlock, Derek & the Dominoes founder and musician, has died. He was 77.
Whitlock's manager Carol Kaye confirmed his death to Variety, sharing that he died on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 1:20 a.m. after being diagnosed with cancer.
Whitlock's wife, Coco Carmel Whitlock, told TMZ in a statement: "How do you express in but a few words the grandness of one man who came from abject poverty in the south to heights unimagined in such a short time?"
"My love Bobby looked at life as an adventure taking me by the hand leading me through a world of wonderment from music to poetry and painting," she continued. "I feel his hands that were so intensely expressive and warm on my face and the small of my back whenever I close my eyes, he is there."
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Bobby WhitlockShe concluded her statement with a quote attributed to the late musician: "Life is what you make it, so take it and make it beautiful."
His former bandmate Eric Clapton also posted about his death. "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," Clapton, 80, wrote on Facebook.
Whitlock was known for working with Derek & the Dominoes on their sole album, the 1971 record Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, writing the tracks "Bell Bottom Blues," "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?" and "Tell the Truth."
Among his other credits are writing songs for Lady Gaga, Ray Charles, Tom Jones, George Jones, Cher, The Rolling Stones (uncredited), Tedeschi Trucks, Sheryl Crow and others, according to his website.
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Whitlock was born on March 18, 1948, in Memphis, Tenn. and signed on to Stax Records as a teenager, per Billboard, performing with Booker T. & the MG’s and Sam & Dave during his tenure there in the 1960s.
In 1968, Whitlock became part of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, which included his future Derek & The Dominoes collaborators Clapton, Carl Radle, Duane Allman and Jim Gordon. The band recorded one album together, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, and broke up while working on their sophomore album.
Whitlock disliked the coda for "Layla," which was perhaps Derek & The Dominoes' most famous song. "The song was complete without the coda,” he told website Where's Eric in 2011. “The original single didn’t have it on it, and the few times that we did it [live] we didn’t do it then either. Plus, there’s the added fact that it is stolen goods."
"Jim Gordon got the piano melody from a song that he and his then girlfriend Rita Coolidge wrote together called ‘Time.’ Jim took the melody to the song and added it as the piano part. So he ripped it off from his girlfriend and didn’t give her writer’s credit for it."
Added Whitlock, "In my opinion, the piano part taints the integrity of this beautiful heart-on-the-line, soul-exposed-for-the-world-to-see song that Eric Clapton wrote entirely by himself."
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The musician also worked on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, appearing on the title track, along with "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life." Whitlock claimed that he wasn't given a songwriting credit for the Rolling Stones' song "I Just Want to See His Face," which he allegedly wrote with Mick Jagger.
Whitlock's credits also include appearing on Clapton's solo album and Doris Troy's solo album, along with The Sun, Moon & Herbs by Dr. John and Stephen Stills & Manassas’ album Down the Road.
He released several solo albums following Derek & The Dominoes' tenure, including Raw Velvet and his self-titled album, along with his most recent, Where There's a Will, There's a Way: The ABC-Dunhill Recordings in 2013.
He took a break from the music industry in the late '70s and returned in the early 2000s.
When inducted into Memphis’ Beale Street Walk of Fame in 2024, he reflected on his life and legacy. “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,” he told Everything Knoxville.
"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.”
Bobby Whitlock/Instagram
Bobby Whitlock via InstagramIn 2018, Whitlock took up painting and has painted over 1,000 works. "If anyone could paint how they feel, it is Bobby," his website said of his artwork. "He has managed to tap into that inner something that expresses on canvas what he is feeling."
Per CBS News, along with his wife, Whitlock is survived by his three children: Ashley Faye Brown, Beau Elijah Whitlock and Tim Whitlock Kelly.
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