Cream Bassist Jack Bruce Dead at Age 71
 

BBC News.com: Jack Bruce, bassist from 1960s band Cream, has died aged 71, his publicist confirms.

Cream, which also included Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, are now considered one of the most important bands in rock history. They sold 35 million albums in just over two years and were given the first ever platinum disc for Wheels of Fire. Bruce wrote and sang most of the songs, including "I Feel Free" and "Sunshine Of Your Love".

...He left the...Royal Scottish Academy of Music at the age of 16...to which he won a scholarship for cello and composition... and eventually found his way to London where he became a member of the influential Alexis Korner's Blues Inc, where Charlie Watts, later to join the Rolling Stones, was the drummer.

He played in a number of bands throughout the early 60s, including John Mayall's Blues Breakers and Manfred Mann before joining Clapton and Baker in Cream. Cream split in November 1968 at the height of their popularity, with Bruce feeling he had strayed too far from his ideals...In May 2005, he reunited with his former Cream bandmates for a series of concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall.

A statement from his family said: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father and granddad and all-round legend. The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts."

Wow - only 5 years older than I am. And when Cream was popular in the 60's I thought that they were Gods. RIP :(