Procol Harum singer Gary Brooker dies at 76

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Gary Brooker, the frontman of 1960s rock band Procol Harum, has died at the age of 76, his record label has confirmed.

The London-born singer led the band throughout their 55-year history, co-writing and singing their most famous song, 1967's A Whiter Shade of Pale.

He was appointed an OBE in 2003, and A Whiter Shade of Pale was honoured by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Brooker died at his home from cancer on Saturday, the band said in a statement.

Brooker also toured with Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr, and played with Sir Paul McCartney, Bill Wyman, George Harrison, the Alan Parsons Project and many others.

In 1996, he appeared alongside Madonna in Alan Parker's film adaptation of Evita, playing Argentine foreign minister Juan Atilio Bramuglia.

Brooker went on to form Procol Harum in 1966, and released their best-known song the following year.

One of the anthems of the summer of love, A Whiter Shade of Pale was an unusual song - from its surreal lyrics ("We tripped the light fandango") to the haunting organ line, and the melancholy arrangement, loosely based on Bach's Air on the G String.

Nonetheless, it became one of the most commercially-successful singles of all time, selling more than 10 million copies worldwide.

At the first ever Brit Awards in 1977, it was named the joint winner (alongside Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody) of the "best British pop single 1952-1977". In 2009, it was named the most-played song of the last 75 years by UK radio stations.

"From the moment that we made it we knew it was special," Brooker said in 2017.

However, the band "never sought to replicate" the sound of those early records, "preferring to forge a restlessly progressive path", they said in the statement announcing Brooker's death.

Their third album, 1969's A Salty Dog, is regarded as their masterpiece, ushering in an era of lush, orchestrated progressive rock.