Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce died from liver disease in his home on Saturday. "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, granddad, and all round legend," his family announced via Bruce's webpage. "The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts."
Though Cream was only together for two years (from 1966 to 1968), the psychedelic bluesy rock band co-founded by Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton, sold 35 million albums in those two years and won the first ever platinum album, according to Bruce's website. Bruce co-wrote some of Cream's hits like "Sunshine of Your Love," "Politician," Strange Brew," "White Room" and "I Feel Free."
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Bruce dropped out of music school when he was 16 years old because he was not allowed to play jazz, according to Reuters via Yahoo. Bruce then played with some blues bands, including Alexis Korner's Blues Inc. with future Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. Bruce was offered a gig with soul legend Marvin Gaye, but Bruce turned down the offer due to his upcoming (first) marriage, according to Bruce's website.
Cream was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. "In the eyes of their audience, the three musicians in Cream represented the best players of their respective instruments - the 'cream' of British rock musicianship, as it were," according to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website.
In 2005, after a harrowing liver transplant for Bruce, Cream reunited for four shows, according to Rolling Stone. The next year, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bruce's last album, "Silver Rails," was released in March 2014. Friends say he was still playing music two weeks before his death, according to NPR.
