The death of Ginger Baker has been announced today. He was 80.
Fiery, argumentative, talented, influential – Baker was all these things and more, a part of a golden age for British rock drumming with one of the first supergroups, Cream, along side Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce.
A statement from his family released last month revealed he was critically ill in hospital, and on Twitter today they confirmed the news of his passing:
“We are very sad to say that Ginger has passed away peacefully in hospital this morning. Thank you to everyone for your kind words over the past weeks.”
Among those to have left tributes is Paul McCartney, who said: “Ginger Baker, great drummer, wild and lovely guy. We worked together on the ‘Band on the Run’ album in his ARC Studio, Lagos, Nigeria. Sad to hear that he died but the memories never will.”