Terry Hall, the frontman of UK ska band The Specials, has died at the age of 63.
Singer, Terry Hall, (The Specials, Fun Boy Three) has died after a brief illness, The Specials said in a statement.
“Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls,” they wrote.
“His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love.
“He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity.”
Terry passed away as he landed in Egypt for a holiday with his wife. The band asked for respect for Hall’s family’s privacy. No cause of death was shared.
Music was alway a big part of Hall’s life, he joined a local punk band called Squad, receiving his first writing credit on their single ‘Red Alert’.
He was spotted by The Specials’ Jerry Dammers, who recruited him as a frontman.
After gaining a reputationfor their live shows at home, the band rose to national prominence after Radio 1’s John Peel played their debut single, ‘Gangsters’, on his show.
The Specials were a multi-racial group, documenting the turbulent Thatcher years by playing songs directly indebted to Jamaican ska – a pre-reggae style that remained popular in Britain’s West Indian communities.
“When I saw the Pistols and The Clash I realised it didn’t seem that difficult,” Hall told The Big Issue. “They didn’t seem like they could play very well either, so the thing was to form a band then work it out.
“We didn’t even know who was going to play what – we passed around all the instruments until we found what we were comfortable with. I wasn’t comfortable with any of them so I became the singer.”
The Specialshad seven consecutive top 10 singles between 1979 and 1981.
Hall left the band to start Fun Boy Three with Golding and Staple, abandoning ska for a more l pop sound.
He launched a solo career in 1994 with the critically-acclaimed Home
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