Bobby Whitlock—Derek & the Dominos Keyboardist—Dies at 77

Bobby Whitlock, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist best known as the keyboardist with the Eric Clapton-led band Derek and the Dominos, died today, August 10, 2025. A statement issued by Whitlock’s manager, Carol Kaye of Kayos Productions, reads, “With profound sadness, the family of Bobby Whitlock announces his passing at 1:20 a.m. on Aug. 10 after a brief illness. He passed in his home in Texas, surrounded by family.” No further details have yet been provided regarding the cause of death. Whitlock was 77.

Although Derek and the Dominos was a short-lived entity, the group’s sole studio release, 1970’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, is considered a rock classic by many—and a high point of Clapton’s career. Whitlock also appeared on the band’s In Concert LP and Clapton’s debut solo album, a self-titled 1970 release.

Derek and the Dominos (l-r): Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon and Carl Radle

Clapton paid tribute to his former bandmate. “Our dear friend, Bobby Whitlock, has passed away at 77,” he wrote on his Facebook page. “Our sincere condolences to Bobby’s wife CoCo and his family on this sad day…. RIP Bobby xxx.”

Whitlock contributed to other high-profile bands and projects during his multi-decade career, including the husband-wife act Delaney and Bonnie and Friends and George Harrison, whose 1970 All Things Must Pass album featured Whitlock on keyboards. In a 2013 interview, Whitlock told Best Classic Bands’ editor Jeff Tamarkin that that time period went by like a whirlwind for him: “I never stopped to take note of what was being done, going back and listening to what we did yesterday. It was always about something new and tomorrow. It was a continuum of creativity. When the Dominos first started, that’s how it was. Then everything else got in the way.”

In addition to providing keyboards and background for the Layla album, Whitlock also contributed acoustic guitar to the track “Thorn Tree in the Garden,” which he wrote. Whitlock also co-composed six tracks with Clapton: “I Looked Away,” “Bell Bottom Blues,” “Keep on Growing,” “Tell the Truth,” “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” and “Anyday.”

Listen to “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?” from Derek and the Dominos’ In Concert album

Born March 18, 1948, in Memphis, Tenn., Robert Stanley Whitlock learned to play the Hammond organ as a teen and landed work at Memphis’ Stax Records label, contributing to recordings by Sam and Dave, Albert King, the Staple Singers and others. In 1969, Whitlock contributed to two albums by Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, Home and Accept No Substitutes, as well as the following year’s live album, On Tour with Eric Clapton, and subsequent studio recordings.

Dave Mason wrote, “Rest easy, Bobby Whitlock. I’ll always be grateful for our time making music together in the early days of Derek & the Dominoes, with Delaney & Bonnie, and during the recording of Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. Prayers and blessings to the Whitlock family and to the many, many fans who’ve enjoyed the music all these years.”

Related: Our extensive interview with Whitlock

Derek and the Dominos arose out of the All Things Must Pass sessions, which also included bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon. The quartet of Clapton, Whitlock, Radle and Gordon toured during 1970 but before the end of 1971 the band had split. The “Layla” title track, written by Clapton and Gordon, inspired by George Harrison’s then-wife Pattie Boyd (who later married Clapton), was released in 1971 as a single to little fanfare but upon its re-release the following year it landed in the Billboard Top 10.

With the death of Whitlock, Clapton becomes the sole surviving member of Derek and the Dominos.

Bobby Whitlock in 2011 (Photo by CoCo Carmel, used with permission)

Over the next few years following the Dominos’ dissolution, in addition to making his own solo debut, Whitlock was hired to contribute to albums by Dr. John, Doris Troy and Stephen Stills’ band Manassas, among others. According to Variety, Whitlock “also made an uncredited appearance on the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, and made the claim that he was cheated out of a rightful co-writing credit for the song ‘I Just Want to See His Face.’”

In addition to his work as a sideman, Whitlock ultimately released more than a dozen solo albums, beginning with a self-titled 1972 effort on which Clapton and Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett returned the favor with musical contributions.

For that solo debut, Whitlock also called upon Gordon and Radle for accompaniment, as well as Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Traffic’s Chris Wood and others. The album, released on the ABC-Dunhill label in the U.S., peaked at #140. Its followup, 1972’s Raw Velvet, made it only to #190 and was the last of Whitlock’s solo works to chart. In the mid-’70s, he withdrew from the music business; he lived on a farm in Mississippi during the next two decades, doing occasional session work. He returned to active music-making in 1999 with the solo album It’s About Time. Other Whitlock albums, some made with his wife CoCo Carmel, featured special guests including Willie Nelson and Steve Cropper. In the 2000s, Whitlock relocated to Austin.

This ad for a Whitlock solo album appeared in the April 8, 1972, issue of Record World.

In 2010, Whitlock published A Rock ’n’ Roll Autobiography, his memoir, which included a foreword from Clapton. The book is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.

Related: Musician and celebrity deaths of 2025

Watch Whitlock perform “Layla” with his own group at the New York club the Bottom Line in 1992

The 50th anniversary editions of All Things Must Pass are available in the U.S. here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here. Derek & the Dominos recordings are available here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.

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Jeff Tamarkin

Best Classic Bands Editor Jeff Tamarkin has been a prolific music journalist for nearly five decades. He is formerly the editor of Goldmine, CMJ and Relix magazines, has written for dozens of other publications and has authored liner notes for more than 80 CDs. Jeff has also served on the Nominating Committee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and as a consultant to the Grammys. His first book was 'Got a Revolution! The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane.' He is also the co-author of 'Shell Shocked: My Life with the Turtles, Flo and Eddie, and Frank Zappa, etc.,' with Howard Kaylan, and 'Carlos Santana: Love, Devotion, Surrender: The Illustrated Story of Santana's Musical Journey.'

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