Bobby Whitlock, who co-founded Derek and the Dominos with Eric Clapton, dies at 77

(NEXSTAR) – Bobby Whitlock, the songwriter and musician who co-founded Derek and the Dominos alongside Eric Clapton, died on Sunday at the age of 77.

Carole Kaye, Whitlock’s manager, said the rocker died “after a brief illness” at his home in Texas, according to a statement provided to outlets including Variety

and ABC Audio.

“He passed in his home in Texas, surrounded by family,” she said.

Whitlock, born in Memphis, Tennessee, began his career playing gigs in the city and recording for Stax Records. It was at Stax where he met singer/songwriters Delaney and Bonnie Bramlet, who asked him to move to Los Angeles and join their backing band to play keyboards, he recounted to the Austin Chronicle in 2006.

“When I got there, they had Carl Radle on bass, J.J. Cale on guitar, Leon Russell on keyboards, and Bobby Keys on horns. It was like a dream,” he told the Austin Chronicle.

Delaney & Bonnie was soon opening for the rock supergroup Blind Faith, of which Clapton was a member. The two connected after the tour was over, with Whitlock moving into Clapton’s home in England in 1970, Whitlock said. It was there that Whitlock and Clapton co-wrote many of the songs that would appear on “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,” the first and only Derek and the Dominos album.

The same year that album was released, Whitlock appeared on George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” playing keyboards and contributing backing vocals.

Whitlock also recorded and released several solo albums through the mid-70s, as well as several in the following decades with wife CoCo Carmel.

“My love Bobby looked at life as an adventure taking me by the hand leading me through a world of wonderment from music to poetry and painting,” Carmel told TMZ upon Whitlock’s passing. “I feel his hands that were so intensely expressive and warm on my face and the small of my back whenever I close my eyes, he is there.”

Clapton also passed along his “sincere condolences” to Whitlock’s wife and family, in a message posted to Facebook.