Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Bobby Womack died Friday at age 70.
The cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but Womack suffered a number of health problems throughout his life, including colon cancer. He underwent surgery for suspected colon cancer in 2012, and diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2013.
Womack grew up the son of two musicians in Cleveland, Ohio. Sam Cooke signed Womack and his brothers, who performed as the Womack Brothers, to his SAR Records label in 1960.
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The quartet eventually changed their name to the Valentinos and, in 1964, released a song called "It's All Over Now," a version of which became a hit for the Rolling Stones in the same year. Just months after Cooke was killed in 1964, Womack married Cooke's widow Barbara Campbell.
In the late '60s and early '70s, Womack released solo R&B albums, toured with the Faces, and worked as a session musician in Memphis, playing on songs like Sly & the Family Stone's "Family Affair" and Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man."
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In the 80s, he struggled with drug addiction and completed rehab.
Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009, and began a new wave of his career recently, with 2012 album The Bravest Man in the Universe.
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He was at work this year on a new album, set to feature collaborations with Snoop Dogg, Rod Stewart, and Stevie Wonder.
Watch Womack perform "Deep River" in 2012:
