Scottish musician and composer John Symon Asher “Jack” Bruce, best known as a founder member of the British psychedelic supergroup trio Cream, has died.
The news was confirmed by his publicist Claire Singers, who said, “He died today at his home in Suffolk surrounded by his family.” An official Jack Bruce Facebook page is also reporting the bassist’s passing, as well as the BBC. A brief statement posted Saturday morning on the official Jack Bruce website reads the following:
Jack formed Cream alongside drummer Ginger Baker and guitarist/singer Eric Clapton in the 1960s, handling bass and vocal duties for much of the band’s celebrated work. Widely regarded as being the world’s first successful supergroup, Cream sold over 15 million albums worldwide, on the strengths of psych-rock singles such as “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room”. Jack is credited for writing or co-writing most of the band’s material, though he was a force behind the band’s breakup at the height of their popularity in 1968, feeling he had strayed too far from his ideals. The former Cream bandmates reunited in 2005 for a series of concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Cream’s psychedelic stylings were an influential precursor to Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group, Rush, Black Sabbath and beyond. We recently spoke with Queens of the Stone Age frontman Joshua Homme about Jack’s uniquely haunting falsetto, as evidenced in “White Room” (below), and shared a mutual reverence for the man’s incredible abilities and contributions to the rock world.
We’ll update with more information as it develops. In the meantime, let’s revisit one of the most important musical gifts Jack gave us all:
