Gary Brooker, Singer and Keyboard Player for Procol Harum, Dies at 76
Chris Willman Music WriterGary Brooker, the frontman for Procol Harum, the long-running band most famous for 1967’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” died Saturday at age 76. The cause of death was cancer.The surviving members announced Brooker’s death in an obituary on the group’s official website, writing that the “brightly shining, irreplaceable light in the music industry… had been receiving treatment for cancer, but died peacefully at home.”Brooker had been appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen in 2003.Prior to Procol Harum, Brooker had founded the Paramounts in 1962 with future British blues-rock legend Robin Trower.