At 76, Keith Reid, Lyricist Of Procol Harum, Has Died

In a Facebook post Wednesday, the English rock band announced the passing of Keith Reid, whose lyrics played alongside the music of Procol Harum. In a tribute to him, the group remembered that he wrote virtually every song in Procol Harum and helped shape the music the band created. He was 76 years old.

It is designed to be complex

The statement concluded that his imaginative, surreal, and multilayered lyrics were a wonderful addition to Procol Harum's catalog, whose complexity by design made them stand out. This is a very difficult time for his family and friends; our thoughts are with them.

Sunset Blvd. Records, a Los Angeles-based media company, reported Monday that Reid died suddenly in a London hospital last week from cancer he had been undergoing for the past couple of years. Despite not performing, Reid and Gary Brooker founded the rock band on Feb. 19, 2022, and both died of cancer.

Grammy Hall of Fame induction of a song

While the band was together, Alan Cartwright and Mick Grabham played bass, B.J. Wilson and Chris Copping played drums, and the band recorded 13 albums before breaking up in 1977. The band's most popular single, "A Whiter Shade of Pale," came in 1967, after they reformed in 1991.

In 2009, the BBC named it the top most-played song for the past 75 years in the U.K., co-written by Reid and Brooker. A Grammy Hall of Fame entry was made in 1998 for the song. His first solo album, In My Head, was released in 2018, and he is also known for forming a management company in the 1980s.

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