Zoot Frontman Darryl Cotton Diagnosed With Liver Cancer

Darryl Cotton, lead singer with Zoot - a prominent rock act in the '60s and '70s - has been diagnosed with liver cancer.

Reported in the Herald Sun, Cotton is being treated in a private hospital and the 62-year-old is said to be 'upbeat' about the condition.

Jim Keays, who plays with Cotton and Russell Morris in Cotton, Keays and Morris, said last night, "We are like family, the three of us, and in all the years together we've never had a tense moment. He was great today, chatty and smiling. You wouldn't know he was unwell."

Morris and Ian 'Molly' Meldrum visited him in hospital yesterday while his son and daughter have flown in the the US and Canada.

Originally from Adelaide, Zoot found fame as a mod act before crossing over to rock - partly due to external industry pressures when they relocated to Melbourne. The band featured musicians such as Rick Springfield, Rick Brewer and Beeb Birtles and enjoyed notoriety for their rebellious cover of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby.

Watch Zoot's cover of Eleanor Rigby below:

Leave your messages of support to Darryl below: