LOS ANGELES – Clarence Clemons, the burly saxophone player who played a crucial role in shaping Bruce Springsteen’s early sound, died on Saturday, six days after suffering a stroke at his Florida home. He was 69.
“It is with overwhelming sadness that we inform our friends and fans that at 7.00 tonight, Saturday, June 18, our beloved friend and bandmate, Clarence Clemons passed away,” Springsteen said on his website, adding the cause was complications from the stroke last Sunday. “His loss is immeasurable,” Springsteen added.
Clemons started working with Springsteen in 1971 and was a charter member of the backing group that came to be known as the E Street Band.
His gritty, evocative saxophone solos powered such notable Springsteen songs as Born to Run, Jungleland, Prove It All Night, Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, and Badlands. On stage, Clemons proved a worthy foil for Springsteen and his bandmates. In a 1975 concert review, Rolling Stone said he betrayed an "ominous cool" in contrast to guitarist Steven Van Zandt's "strange hipster frenzy".
Alongside Van Zandt, Clemons personified the E Street Band, and he took it hard when Springsteen broke up the group for a decade in 1989. But by then Clemons was being used less in the studio. On stage, he was often reduced to playing tambourine or engaging in crowd-pleasing theatrics, like kissing Springsteen during the live staple Rosalita( Come Out Tonight).
He also dabbled in acting, enjoyed a solo hit single with Jackson Browne, 1985's You're a Friend of Mine, toured with Ringo Starr and even played on two tracks on Lady Gaga's new album.
In 2009, he published his memoir, Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales, co-written with his friend Don Reo. – (Reuters)