Bobby Whitlock, Derek and the Dominos Co-Founder, Dies at 77

Bobby Whitlock, the co-founder and keyboardist-singer for Derek and the Dominos, died Sunday at age 77. 

The news was confirmed by his manager, Carol Kaye, in a statement to the media. 

"With profound sadness, the family of Bobby Whitlock announces his passing at 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 10 after a brief illness. He passed in his home in Texas, surrounded by family," the statement read, according to Deadline.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Whitlock launched his career in the 1960s as a teenager, forming connections with artists linked to the city's legendary Stax Records, which played a prominent role in Southern soul music. He worked with R&B duo Sam & Dave and Booker T. & the M.G.'s and made history as the label's first signed white artist.

Whitlock later became part of the touring group Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, led by husband-and-wife team Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. The lineup featured singer-guitarist Eric Clapton, bassist Carl Radle, and drummer Jim Gordon, all whom eventually teamed up with Whitlock to create Derek and the Dominos.

While Derek and the Dominos are often remembered for launching Clapton's solo career, Whitlock played a major role in their only studio album, "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs" (1970). The band disbanded the following year amid poor initial sales and Clapton's struggles with addiction, after which Whitlock pursued a solo career.

As a session player, Whitlock worked on a string of notable projects, including George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" (1970), Dr. John's "The Sun, Moon & Herbs" (1971), Doris Troy's 1970 self-titled album, and an uncredited role on the Rolling Stones' 1972 double album "Exile on Main St."

In 1972, Whitlock released his debut album and "Raw Velvet," later adding two more releases before largely stepping away from music by the end of the decade. He reemerged in the 1990s to record alongside his wife and collaborator, CoCo Carmel, and in 2000 joined Clapton on "Later … With Jools Holland" for a rendition of “Bell Bottom Blues.”

Carmel released a statement Sunday to the Los Angeles Times, remembering her late husband. 

"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?" she said. "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. As he would always say: ‘Life is what you make it, so take it and make it beautiful.' And he did."

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