Keith Reid, whose lyrics were performed by Procol Harum and were featured alongside their music, has passed away. He was 76.
In a post on their Facebook page on Wednesday, the English rock band Procol Harum confirmed the passing of their “unparalleled” lyricist. They paid tribute to him as someone who “wrote the words to virtually all Procol Harum songs” and whose “lyrics were one of a kind and helped to shape the music created by the band.”
“Fans of Procol Harum found great pleasure in his inventive, bizarre, and multi-layered phrases, and the fact that he purposely designed them to be complex made them a potent addition to the band’s back catalog. Our prayers are with him, his family, and all of his friends “the statement that was included.
According to a statement released by the band to the Los Angeles-based media business Sunset Blvd. Records, Reid had been having cancer treatment “for the past couple of years” and “passed abruptly” at a hospital in London last Thursday. Sunset Blvd. Records is based in Los Angeles.
Although Reid was not a performing member of the music group, he co-founded the rock band with Gary Brooker, who also passed away from cancer at the age of 76 on February 19, 2022. Reid passed away in 2022.
The band would go on to release a total of 13 albums until disbanding in 1977, after having recruited members such as bass player Alan Cartwright, guitarist Mick Grabham, drummer B.J. Wilson, and organ player Chris Copping.
According to Rolling Stone, the band’s most famous single was released in 1967 and was titled “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” Despite the fact that they reassembled as a new version in 1991 and continued to record and play up to 2019, the band is most known for their work in 1967.
The song was written by Reid and Brooker, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2009, the BBC ranked it as the song that has been played the most in public places in the United Kingdom over the course of the previous 75 years.
In the 1980s, the songwriter established a management company, which is another thing that people remember about him, according to Stereogum. In 2018, he released his debut album under his own name, titled “In My Mind.”
