Terry Hall, the lead singer of British ska group The Specials, has died at the age of 63 after a short illness.
“It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Terry, our beautiful friend and brother, and one of the most brilliant singers and songwriters in this country,” the band wrote on Twitter. The band members further describe Hall as “a wonderful husband and father” and “a very sincere soul”.
Hall began his music career with the punk band Squad in his hometown of Coventry. He later continued with The Specials, founded in 1977. The band’s debut single, Gangster (1979), was immediately well received by the general public and reached number six in the British charts.
The Specials’ biggest success followed in 1981 with the No. 1 hit Ghost city. The song was about urban decay, unemployment and disenfranchised youth. The song received much attention during the many racist riots that broke out between black youth and the police in the UK that year.
In 1980 the band released the song A message for you Rudy from. The song was quite popular in the Netherlands but became a huge hit in the UK. The band’s cover – the original was by Jamaican Robert Thompson – was produced by Elvis Costello.
Hall was married to Lindy Heymann, with whom he had one son. Hall already had two children from a previous marriage. On June 28 of this year, Hall performed with The Specials in Paradiso in Amsterdam.
