Derek and the Dominos Co-founder Bobby Whitlock Dies at 77
Bobby Whitlock, the multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who co-founded and played keyboards for Derek and the Dominos has died of cancer at 77.
TMZ was first to report the news.
Whitlock’s death leaves Eric Clapton as the only surviving Domino.
“Our sincere condolences to Bobby’s wife, CoCo, and his daughter, Faye, on this sad day,” Clapton said on the loss of his “dear friend” and former collaborator.
Whitlock was playing with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends when he first crossed paths with Clapton. This led to session work on George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and the eventual recording of Derek and the Dominos’ only studio LP, Layla and other Assorted Love Songs, which featured seven tracks written or co-written by Whitlock.
“He wrote some of the best songs on the Layla album,” the Clapton tribute band the Journeymen said in a statement that eulogized Whitlock as a “musician extraordinaire and astonishing songwriter.”
After the Dominos’ breakup, Whitlock made four solo albums in the 1970s before leaving music for more than two decades. He re-emerged in 1999 and spent the past 20 years playing with his wife, CoCo Carmel, and other Austin-based musicians.
Whitlock’s former music director Johnny A. called his one-time boss “a force definitely, the real deal.
“We always stayed in touch,” A. said in a statement. “I will miss him.”
8/10/25
