A photo montage of Gary Brooker, via Procol Harum’s social media pages
Nearly two years after Gary Brooker died in 2022, some of classic rock’s biggest stars will pay tribute to the Procol Harum leader in concert. The December 4, 2023, event at G Live in Guildford, U.K. will feature Eric Clapton, Roger Taylor, Mike Rutherford, and more. The benefit concert will raise funds for Brooker’s preferred charities The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity and Cure Parkinsons. Tickets, all price at £100, go on sale Sept. 28 at 10 a.m. local time here.
The lineup also includes Paul Carrack, John Illsley of Dire Straits, Andy Fairweather-Low and Mike Sanchez. They will be joined by a house band made-up of session musicians Dave Bronze, Henry Spinetti, Graham Broad, Paul Beavis, Frank Mead, Nick Pentelow, Nikki Lamborn, Catherine Feeney, Olivia Keast, Geoff Dunn, Geoff Whitehorn and Josh Phillips.
The intimate venue, roughly 26 miles southwest of Central London, has a capacity of 1,700 for a standing concert and just over 1,000 for seated events.
From the Sept. 26 announcement: Brooker’s voice and pianist skills were the single defining constant of Procol Harum’s fifty-year international concert career. He will also be remembered for his collaborations with some of the best in the business. He performed with Clapton’s band, as well as Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings, and Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band, and contributed to solo projects for Paul McCartney and George Harrison.
In 2020, Brooker organized a lineup of Clapton, Cat Stevens, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, Rick Wakeman, and many others at a concert in London, to benefit the Royal Marsden, just before things were shut down for the pandemic. The concert is believed to be Brooker’s final performance. When tickets to that benefit went on sale, the star-studded concert sold out immediately.
When Brooker died on February 19, 2022, he was mourned by fellow music legends including Billy Joel, Steve Winwood, and even noted filmmaker John Carpenter.
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4 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationAnd yet Procul Harum is on the outside looking in at the so called R&R Hall of Fame. Anyone who listens to rock knows that the omission is a disgrace.
Maybe now that Jann wenner has been shown the door PH has a chance
One of the best bands to come out of the late sixties. “A Whiter Shade of Pale” is one great song that will forever stand the test of time!
Couldn’t agree more, but having followed Procol Harum since ’71, they never seemed to break through that final ceiling into “super stardom”, which they, and especially Gary, so deserved.