Legendary British singer and songwriter Joe Cocker, best known for his raspy vocals and hits like his covers of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ and ‘You Are So Beautiful’, has died at the age of 70 following a battle with lung cancer.

“John Robert Cocker, known to family, friends, his community and fans around the world as Joe Cocker, passed away on December 22nd, 2014 after a hard fought battle with small cell lung cancer,” wrote Sony Music in a statement, via Rolling Stone.

“Joe Cocker was born 5/20/1944 in Sheffield, England where he lived until his early 20s. In 2007 he was awarded the OBE by the Queen of England. His international success as a blues/rock singer began in 1964 and continues till this day. Joe created nearly 40 albums and toured extensively around the globe.”

Meanwhile, amid an international outpouring of grief, the singer’s agent, Barrie Marshall, who confirmed Cocker’s death to the BBC, has called the Grammy Award-winning artist “simply unique”, saying that “it will be impossible to fill the space he leaves in our hearts”.

Among those who’ve paid tribute to Cocker, who died at his home in Colorado in the US on Monday, local time, are Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, who took to Twitter to write, “Goodbye and God bless to Joe Cocker from one of his friends peace and love.”

Cocker was born in Sheffield, England, and worked as a gas fitter while pursuing a singing career, covering Motown songs in northern England pubs during the early 1960s. He rose to prominence as a talented white soul singer, gaining notoriety for his unique stage presence and vocals.

In addition to his husky vocal delivery and trademark onstage body movements, Cocker gained a reputation as a wild man during tours in the ’60s and ’70s. A frequent visitor to Australia — Cocker last toured in 2011 — Cocker and six members of his entourage were arrested in Adelaide in 1972 for marijuana possession.

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As The Age reports, after he and his entourage were bailed for $1,000 each by his promoter, the singer pleaded guilty and continued the tour in Melbourne, where he was arrested at a motel following a scuffle that broke out when management asked him and his group to leave.

However, while many are mourning the loss of the soul and rock legend, some confused social media users have issued their condolences for an entirely different iconic UK singer, one who, as it happens, is alive and well and has absolutely no relation to Joe Cocker.

Indeed, as Billboard reports, Twitter is out in full force, with many mourning the passing of Jarvis Cocker, frontman of legendary Britpop outfit Pulp, best known for their 1995 single ‘Common People’, while others still are mourning the loss of the Pulp singer’s “father”.

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