( CNN ) -- Joe Cocker , the British blues-rock singer whose raspy voice brought plaintive soul to such hits as `` You Are So Beautiful '' and the duet `` Up Where We Belong , '' died Monday after a battle with lung cancer . He was 70 . Cocker 's performing career spanned some 50 years , from Woodstock , where he sang the Beatles ' `` With a Little Help From My Friends , '' to the digital-music era . He had tour dates scheduled well into 2015 . `` Goodbye and God bless to Joe Cocker from one of his friends peace and love , '' tweeted Beatles drummer Ringo Starr . Cocker began as a singer in England at the same time as the Beatles , with whom he was often linked . He played pubs across the country in a series of rock bands before he and his Grease Band recorded `` With a Little Help From My Friends '' in 1968 with Jimmy Page , Steve Winwood and others . The song became a No . 1 hit in England and propelled him to Woodstock , where his passionate live version was a festival highlight and launched his U.S. career . Cocker scored another major success in the early 1970s with `` Mad Dogs and Englishmen , '' a live album and concert film . `` Up Where We Belong , '' his duet with Jennifer Warnes from the movie `` An Officer and a Gentleman , '' was Cocker 's biggest U.S. hit , topping the Billboard singles charts in 1982 . It also won him a Grammy , and the Oscar for best original song . Cocker was known for his spasmodic movements on stage , where he often flailed his arms as he sang . His distinctive moves , he said , were almost accidental . `` I never played organ or piano or guitar , so it was more out of frustration and me just trying to impersonate in a way , '' Cocker told the Broward-Palm Beach New Times in 2012 . `` I did it subconsciously . People mistook for me being ill , like I had palsy . I 'm not nearly so demonstrative now , but I still have my own way of feeling the rhythm . '' Cocker also had lesser hits with covers of torch classic `` Cry Me a River , '' Traffic 's `` Feeling Alright , '' the Boxtops ' `` The Letter '' and the Beatles ' `` She Came in Through the Bathroom Window . '' In the 1980s his witty cover of Randy Newman 's `` You Can Leave Your Hat On , '' was featured in the erotic drama `` 9 1/2 Weeks '' and became a strip-tease anthem . The singer told the Daily Mail in 2013 that by the 1970s his descent into drugs and alcohol had become so severe that he sometimes forgot the lyrics to songs . `` If I 'd been stronger mentally , I could have turned away from temptation , '' Cocker said . `` But there was no rehab back in those days . Drugs were readily available , and I dived in head first . And once you get into that downward spiral , it 's hard to pull out of it . It took me years to get straight . '' He credited his wife , Pam , with helping him get sober . `` It was Pam who helped me get myself back together , '' he said . `` She made me think positively . I was very down on myself . She made me realize people still wanted to hear me sing , and convinced me I could escape the downward spiral . '' In 2012 he released the album , `` Hard Knocks . '' That year he talked to NPR about the project and his love of his life in Colorado -- despite the harsh winters . `` I embrace the winter these days , '' he said in the interview . `` The best thing to do is get a big house . If you are going to have cabin fever , have a big cabin . I walk on a regular basis , I have a couple of dogs . The house tucks right into the mountains . I literally feel I have become a mountain man over these past couple of years . '' Musicians of all ages and genres took to Twitter to pay tribute . `` So sad to hear about Joe Cocker . What an entertainer . One of a kind voice . Rock wo n't ever sound the same , '' tweeted `` Glee 's '' Kevin McHale . People we 've lost in 2014. .
British - born musician Joe Perry has died after a battle with lung cancer . Perry , however , had hits with ` ` You are So Beautiful '' and ` ` Up Where We Belong '' and performed ` ` With a Little Help From My Friends '' at Woodstock .