Ginger Baker, the volatile and propulsive drummer for Cream and other bands who wielded blues power and jazz finesse and helped shatter boundaries of time, tempo and style in popular music, died Sunday at age 80, his family said.

With blazing eyes, orange-red hair and a temperament to match, the London native ranked with The WhoB次元官网网址檚 Keith Moon and Led ZeppelinB次元官网网址檚 John Bonham as the embodiment of musical and personal fury. Using twin bass drums, Baker fashioned a pounding, poly-rhythmic style uncommonly swift and heavy that inspired and intimidated countless musicians. But every beat seemed to mirror an offstage eruption B次元官网网址� whether his violent dislike of Cream bandmate Jack Bruce or his on-camera assault of a documentary maker, Jay Bulger, whom he smashed in the nose with his walking stick.

Bulger would call the film, released in 2012, B次元官网网址淏eware of Mr. Baker.B次元官网网址�

BakerB次元官网网址檚 family said on Twitter that he died Sunday: B次元官网网址淲e are very sad to say that Ginger has passed away peacefully in hospital this morning.B次元官网网址�

His daughter Nettie confirmed that Baker died in Britain but gave no other details. The family had said on Sept. 25 that Baker was critically ill in the hospital.

While Rolling Stone magazine once ranked him the third-greatest rock drummer of all time, behind Moon and Bonham, Baker had contempt for Moon and others he dismissed as B次元官网网址渂ashersB次元官网网址� without style or background. Baker and his many admirers saw him as a rounded, sophisticated musician B次元官网网址� an arranger, composer and student of the craft, absorbing sounds from around the world. He had been playing jazz since he was a teenager and spent years in Africa in the 1970s, forming a close friendship with the Nigerian musician-activist Fela Kuti.

B次元官网网址淗e was so unique and had such a distinctive personality,B次元官网网址� Stewart Copeland of the Police told www.musicradar.com in 2013. B次元官网网址淣obody else followed in his footsteps. Everybody tried to be John Bonham and copy his licks, but itB次元官网网址檚 rare that you hear anybody doing the Ginger Baker thing.B次元官网网址�

1/2 Very sad day in the Drum world as we say goodbye to one of rockB次元官网网址檚 greatest pioneers: Ginger Baker. In the 60B次元官网网址檚, there were a few drummers that came onto the scene playing B次元官网网址渓ead drumsB次元官网网址�. Ginger Baker was one of them taking rock drumming to a whole new level of expression. B次元官网网址�->

B次元官网网址� Mike Portnoy 馃�� (@MikePortnoy)

But many fans thought of Baker as a rock star, who teamed with Eric Clapton and Bruce in the mid-1960s to become Cream B次元官网网址� one of the first supergroups and first power trios. All three were known individually in the London blues scene and together they helped make rock history by elevating instrumental prowess above the songs themselves, even as they had hits with B次元官网网址淪unshine of Your Love,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址滻 Feel FreeB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淲hite Room.B次元官网网址�

Cream was among the most successful acts of its time, selling more than 10 million records. But by 1968 Baker and Bruce had worn each other out and even Clapton had tired of their deafening, marathon jams, including the Baker showcase B次元官网网址淭oad,B次元官网网址� one of rockB次元官网网址檚 first extended drum solos. Cream split up at the end of the year, departing with two sold-out shows at LondonB次元官网网址檚 Albert Hall. When told by Bulger that he was a founding father of heavy metal, Baker snarled that the genre B次元官网网址渟hould have been aborted.B次元官网网址�

To the surprise of many, especially Clapton, he and Baker were soon part of another super group, Blind Faith, which also featured singer-keyboardist Stevie Winwood and bassist Ric Grech.

As Clapton would recall, he and Winwood had been playing informally when Baker turned up (Baker would allege that Clapton invited him). Named Blind Faith by a rueful Clapton, the band was overwhelmed by expectations from the moment it debuted in June 1969 before some 100,000 at a concert in LondonB次元官网网址檚 Hyde Park. It split up after completing just one, self-titled album, as notable for its cover photo of a topless young girl as for its music. A highlight from the record: BakerB次元官网网址檚 cymbal splashes on WinwoodB次元官网网址檚 lyrical ballad B次元官网网址淐anB次元官网网址檛 Find My Way Home.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淏eneath his somewhat abrasive exterior, there was a very sensitive human being with a heart of gold,B次元官网网址� Winwood said in a statement Sunday.

From the 1970s on, Baker was ever more unpredictable. He moved to Nigeria, took up polo, drove a Land Rover across the Sahara, lived on a ranch in South Africa, divorced his first wife and married three more times.

He recorded with Kuti and other Nigerians, jammed with Art Blakey, Elvin Jones and other jazz drummers and played with John LydonB次元官网网址檚 Public Image Ltd. He founded Ginger BakerB次元官网网址檚 Air Force, which cost a fortune and imploded after two albums. He endured his old enemy, Bruce, when Cream was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 and for Cream reunion concerts a decade later. Bruce died in 2014.

1/2 As a young musician few drummers stood taller or were a bigger musical influence than Ginger Baker...I will never forget the awesomeness of seeing him perform with Cream at Massey Hall on June 5 1968 along side the late great Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton.

B次元官网网址� Rush (@rushtheband)

Baker continued to perform regularly in his 70s despite arthritis, heart trouble, hearing loss dating from his years with Cream and lung disease from smoking. A stranger to no vice, immodesty included, he called his memoir B次元官网网址淗ellraiser: The Autobiography of the WorldB次元官网网址檚 Greatest Drummer.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淛ohn Bonham once made a statement that there were only two drummers in British rock B次元官网网址榥B次元官网网址� roll; himself and Ginger Baker,B次元官网网址� Baker wrote in his book. B次元官网网址淢y reaction to this was, B次元官网网址榊ou cheeky little bastard!B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Born in 1939, Peter Edward Baker was the son of a bricklayer killed during World War II when Ginger was just 4. His father left behind a letter that Ginger Baker would quote from: B次元官网网址淯se your fists; theyB次元官网网址檙e your best pals so often.B次元官网网址�

Baker was a drummer from early on, even rapping out rhythms on his school desk as he mimicked the big band music he loved and didnB次元官网网址檛 let the occasional caning from a teacher deter him. As a teenager, he was playing in local groups and was mentored by percussionist Phil Seamen.

B次元官网网址淎t this party, there was a little band and all the kids chanted at me, B次元官网网址楶lay the drums!B次元官网网址滲次元官网网址�, Baker told The Independent in 2009. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 never sat behind a kit before, but I sat down B次元官网网址� and I could play! One of the musicians turned round and said, B次元官网网址楤loody hell, weB次元官网网址檝e got a drummerB次元官网网址�, and I thought, B次元官网网址楤loody hell, IB次元官网网址檓 a drummer.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Baker came of age just as London was learning the blues, with such future superstars as Clapton, Mick Jagger and Jimmy Page among the pioneers. Baker joined Alexis KornerB次元官网网址檚 Blues Incorporated, where he met (and soon disliked, for allegedly playing too loud) the Scottish-born bassist Jack Bruce, with whom he was thrown together again as members of the popular British group the Graham Bond Organization.

Clapton, meanwhile, was LondonB次元官网网址檚 hottest guitarist, thanks to his work with the Yardbirds and John MayallB次元官网网址檚 Blues Breakers, his extraordinary speed and agility inspiring B次元官网网址淐lapton is GodB次元官网网址� graffiti. Clapton, Baker and Bruce would call their band Cream because they considered themselves the best musicians around.

B次元官网网址淥h for godB次元官网网址檚 sake, IB次元官网网址檝e never played rock,B次元官网网址� Baker told the blog JazzWax in 2013. B次元官网网址淐ream was two jazz players and a blues guitarist playing improvised music. We never played the same thing two nights running. Jack and I had been in jazz bands for years. All that stuff I did on the drums in Cream didnB次元官网网址檛 come from drugs, either. It was from me. It was jazz.B次元官网网址�

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Italie reported from New York. Kelvin Chan contributed from London.

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press

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