British blues-rock singer and Woodstock veteran Joe Cocker died on Monday after a battle with lung cancer. The raspy-voiced singer,who brought hits such as You Are So Beautiful and the duet Up Where We Belong to the music world, was 70 years old.

His singing and performing career lasted nearly 50 years spanning from Woodstock, where Cocker sang The Beatles’ With a Little Help From My Friends, to the digital-music era. Tour dates for Cocker were scheduled throughout 2015.

Cocker had been a Colorado resident for the past two decades. He died on his ranch in Crawford, Colo. with his wife Pam by his side.

CEO and chairman of Sony Music Entertainment Edgar Berger stated that Cocker’s voice is “iconic” and will be forever “etched in our memories.” Beatles drummer Ringo Starr tweeted his longtime friend today saying “Goodbye and God Bless to Joe Cocker.” And Steven Tyler showed his grief by tweeting, “We loved you forever, we will miss you always…RIP Joe Cocker.”

Cocker was known for his one-of-a-kind voice first, but he was also remembered for his spasmodic body movements on stage. His flailing arms became fodder for a memorable parody on Saturday Night Live in 1976. He claimed his flailing while singing was done subconsciously. Cocker said his movements grew much less demonstrative in his later years, but he still had his own way of feeling out the rhythm.

Cocker’s singing career began at the same time as The Beatles’ in England and he was often connected to them. He sang in several different rock bands in pubs across the country before recording his cover of With a Little Help From My Friends with Steve Winwood, Jimmy Page and others in 1968. This song skyrocketed to No. 1 in England and thrust him toward Woodstock.

His performance at Woodstock made him a well-known name and launched his career in the U.S. The song even regained popularity in the early 90s when it was used as the theme song for the TV show The Wonder Years.

His success continued in the 1970s with his live album called Mad Dogs and Englishmen and concert documentary. The album featured more than 40 musicians including Rita Coolidge and Leon Russell. In 1975, Cocker’s emotional balled You Are So Beautiful reached the top 10. He often claimed that Ray Charles was one of his largest musical influences.

However, his biggest single in the U.S. was his duet with Jennifer Warnes, Up Where We Belong, that appeared in the film An Officer and a Gentleman. The duet topped the Billboard singles charts in 1982.

The song also won the pair a Grammy award in 1983 for best vocal performance by a duet or group. In addition, Up Where We Belong landed them an award for best original song at the Golden Globes and the Oscars.

Cocker had other less-popular hits which included covers of torch classic Cry Me a River, the Boxtops’ The Letter, Traffic’s Feeling Alright, the Beatles’ She Came in Through the Bathroom Window and the Boxtops’ The Letter. His cover of Randy Newman’s You Can Leave Your Hat On in the 1980s was featured in the drama 9 1/2 Weeks.

Rolling Stone ranked Cocker at No. 97 on their 100 Greatest Singers list. Cocker recorded 22 studio in his lifetime. His latest album Fire It Up was released in 2012.