Gary Brooker

Gary Brooker, MBE, (born 29 May 1945) is an English singer, songwriter, pianist and founder and lead singer of the rock band Procol Harum. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the Queen\'s Birthday Honours on 14 June 2003, in recognition of his charitable services.\n', '

Born in Hackney Hospital, East London, on 29 May 1945, Brooker grew up in Hackney before the family moved out to Middlesex (Bush Hill Park and then to nearby Edmonton). His father Harry Brooker was a professional musician, playing pedal steel guitar with Felix Mendelssohn’s Hawaiian Serenaders, and as a child Brooker learned to play piano, cornet and trombone. In 1954 the family moved to the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, where Brooker attended Westcliff High School for Boys. His father died of a heart attack when he was 11 years old, forcing his mother to work in order to make ends…