Bobby Whitlock, who co-founded Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton and played with George Harrison, died Sunday at the age of 77. His manager, Carol Kaye, confirmed to “Variety” that Whitlock died after a brief bout with cancer.

Bobby Whitlock, co-founder of Derek and the Dominos and a key contributor to George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass,” has died at 77 after a brief battle with cancer.

How do you express in but a few words the grandness of one man who came from abject poverty in the south to heights unimagined in such a short time?” Whitlock’s wife, Coco Carmel Whitlock, said in a statement to CBS News.