body-container-line-1

Cream drummer Ginger Baker dies at 80

By RFI
Europe Cream drummer Ginger Baker dies at 80
OCT 6, 2019 LISTEN

Legendary British drummer Ginger Baker, a founding member of the band Cream, has died at the age of 80.

Baker was admitted to hospital several weeks ago after becoming "critically ill", according to posts on his Twitter account.

He had been suffering from breathing problems.
Baker helped to found the group Cream in 1966 alongside guitarist Eric Clapton and bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce.

He emerged in the 1960s at the same time as other legendary rock drummers Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones and Mitch Mitchell of the Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Described by the BBC as "a temperamental and argumentative figure, whose behaviour frequently led to on-stage punch-ups", Baker was considered one of the most innovative and influential drummers of his generation.

Born Peter Edward Baker in southeast London in 1939, he adopted the nickname Ginger due to the flaming red hair of his youth.

He embraced a career in music after initially trying to become a professional cyclist, hoping to compete in the Tour de France, but abandoned that plan after an accident.

After the break-up of Cream in 1968, Baker joined another mythical, ephemeral group, Blind Faith, alongside Clapton and Steve Winwood, before founding the 10-piece Ginger Baker's Air Force.

He later lived in Nigeria, recording with Fela Kuti, and also went on to help Paul McCartney record the Wings' album "Band on the Run".

body-container-line