Legendary singer-songwriter Bobby Womack, who influenced artists such as the Rolling Stones and Damon Albarn, died at the age of 70 on June 27.
Currently, the cause of death is unknown.
In 2013, Womack was diagnosed with early signs of Alzheimer’s after revealing that he had been forgetting song lyrics and the names of people he collaborated with.
At the time, he told Britain’s BBC Radio 6 music station: “The doctor said, ‘You have signs of Alzheimer’s.’ He said it’s not bad yet but it’s going to get worse.”
He added: “How can I not remember songs that I wrote? That’s frustrating.”
According to Hollywood.com, the soul legend refused to retire last year, when his closest friends begged him to stop touring and enjoy life. Pals like Candi Staton said the “Across 110th Street” hitmaker had been ill for years. A life of drug issues, personal dramas and a cancer battle had taken its toll on Womack.
Staton recalls her last meeting with her old friend in January, 2013. She told the Los Angeles Times, “He was in a coma for a while, and when he came out of his coma, I think I was one of the first people he called, and he told me what was going on in his life. I said, ‘Oh Bobby, I’m praying for you. Are you OK?’ He said, ‘They thought I wasn’t going to make it through, Candi’.”
Over the years, Womack also battled other health conditions such as pneumonia.
He got his start in the music business as the lead singer in the soul group The Valentinos and playing the guitar for Sam Cooke. Womack also penned the Rolling Stones’s number one hit, “It’s All Over Now.”
Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009.
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