Jack Bruce, Cream bassist, dies at 71
London (dpa) - Jack Bruce, the bassist of the 1960s British rock group Cream, died Saturday at the age of 71, his family said.
He, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker sold 35 million records in little more than two years as Cream and had such hits as I Feel Free, Sunshine of Your Love, White Room and Crossroads.
The cause of Bruce's death was liver disease, the Press Association reported.
"The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts," his family said on Bruce's official website.
Blues-influenced Cream was considered to have been rock's first "supergroup." It disbanded at the height of its success in November 1968.
The Scotland-born multi-instrumentalist then launched a solo career and released more than a dozen albums. The final one, Silver Rails, came out in March.
Cream's 1968 Wheels of Fire earned the world's first-ever platinum disc for a double album. In 2003, it was voted number 203 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Cream was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
