Terry Hall

As the pioneering 2 Tone band's lead singer, Hall's impassive style made him a star – and helped him weather the vicissitudes of fame, the changing charts ...

If no one was going to rank 2019’s [Encore](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/31/the-specials-encore-review-a-chequered-mix) or 2021’s [Protest Songs](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/sep/26/the-specials-protest-songs-1924-2012-review-genre-hopping-calls-to-action) over Specials and More Specials, they were far better than a naysayer might have suggested a Specials album would be without the input of Dammers, who after all had been the band’s architect, chief songwriter and de facto leader in their heyday. Perhaps they kept going in order to prove that, contrary to popular wisdom, the Specials had been more than a one-man show, or to underline that the Specials’ left-wing, anti-racist message was as relevant in the 21st century as it had been in the late 70s and early 80s: Encore featured both a song called BLM and an appearance by Saffiyah Khan, a young woman who’d been photographed facing down EDL protestors while wearing a Specials T-shirt. From the start, it was dogged by the same fractiousness that plagued their initial incarnation – depending on which version of events you believe, Jerry Dammers was either fired or left after a couple of rehearsals – but it was a huge commercial success: the first set of gigs sold 45,000 tickets in an hour. [2015 death of drummer John Bradbury](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/dec/29/john-bradbury-of-the-specials-dies-ages-62), it reduced the band to a core of Hall, Golding and bass player Horace Panter. Just as the global influence of the Specials became readily apparent, thanks to a wave of American ska-punk bands, Hall had never seemed further from the music they were inspired by. Similarly, there were few takers for Vegas, the electronic duo he formed with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics, or indeed for Hall’s 90s solo albums Home and Laugh, despite the strength of their songs – listen to Hall’s version of the Lightning Seeds’ Sense, which he co-wrote with Ian Broudie, or the glorious chiming guitars of Sonny and His Sister. Hall later said that he spent the remainder of the 80s “distancing myself from [the Specials] as much as I could”, and there was certainly a sense of repudiating his past about the next band he formed, the Colourfield, whose debut album Virgins and Philistines dealt almost exclusively in music that would have been verboten under punk and post-punk’s scorched-earth rules, such as gentle acoustic folk-rock and Latin-infused easy listening. He announced his departure from the band backstage at Top of the Pops, where they were due to perform Ghost Town, an eerie and eerily prescient depiction of urban decay that reached No 1 the day after cities across Britain erupted in rioting. “You couldn’t get any space, not even for an hour or two, because wherever you went there were these lads who’d travelled 9,000 miles to see you live and didn’t have anywhere to stay, so you had to put them up in your room and then you had to sit up all night with them, talking about the fucking Specials.” At the latter show, Hall and Dammers intervened in an attempt to stop the crowd fighting with bouncers: both were arrested, charged with incitement to riot and fined £400. Hall’s mordant public image proved so pervasive that a wild rumour circulated playgrounds in the early 80s: he suffered from a medical condition affecting the muscles in his face that left him physically unable to smile. The anguished, undulating cry he unleashes in lieu of a chorus on the 1981 single Ghost Town, meanwhile, wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Public Image Ltd’s contemporaneous album The Flowers of Romance.

Terry Hall, the lead singer of ska-punk band the Specials, has died after a "brief illness" at age 63.

“Gutted to hear of the passing of #terryhall. “The Special’s third album — 38 years since the last one, More Specials — is well timed,” the review states. “His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… He formed Fun Boy Three with Neville Staple of the Specials and The Go-Gos’ Jane Wiedlin after their departure from Specials in 1981. “Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls,” the note continued. On Monday, the band released a statement on social media informing fans that the musician had died after a “brief illness,” though more details were not made available.

The band's albums were landmarks of the interracial '2-tone' scene that swept England and beyond in the late '70s and early '80s.

“Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… Terry Hall, frontman for the English ska-punk band the Specials, has died.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant ...

Hall also released a number of solo albums over the years, and collaborated with Tricky, The Lightning Seeds, Gorillaz, Sinead O'Connor and more. Terry often left the stage at the end of The Specials’ life-affirming shows with three words… "Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls," the Specials continued.

Terry Hall, who was also a former member of Fun Boy Three and the Colourfield, died folllowing a brief illness.

I grew up aligned to a party, the Labour Party, quite strongly. “Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. In 2009 he reflected on the performance, saying: “Bestival was a trial run. “He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… It was perfect.”

Having survived a tough childhood in Coventry, Hall became one of pop's defining voices at the turn of the 80s, chronicling British decline and ...

“It felt like a vindication of everything the band had set out to do,” Hall said. And a gorgeous, kind, down to earth man.” Badly Drawn Boy called him [“a musical hero”](https://twitter.com/badly_drawn_boy/status/1604973753099816965), while [Sleaford Mods](https://twitter.com/sleafordmods) said Hall was “King of the Suedeheads. [Rowetta](https://twitter.com/Rowetta) remembered him as “one of the greatest frontmen from one of the greatest bands. “The Specials was this big hole which took up four years of my life,” Hall would form another band, the Colourfield, in 1984, which had a hit with Thinking of You. “It felt like the perfect moment to stop the Specials part one,” Hall said. So there’s always been a bit of that kicking around in the back of my mind. “Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. I always admired and envied his sweep of the pen”, while It remained at No 1 for three weeks, spending 10 weeks in the Top 40, and is widely considered one of the greatest pop records of all time. They released their debut single, Gangsters (a reworking of Prince Buster’s Al Capone) in 1979, which reached No 6 in the UK singles chart. Hall joined the first incarnation of the Specials – then called the Automatics – shortly after the Coventry band formed in 1977, replacing vocalist Tim Strickland.

Terry Hall, lead singer of the English 2 tone and ska revival band The Specials, has died.

The band, also known for its staunch opposition of racial injustice, frequently commented on politics and social reform in England and beyond. The Specials are known for tracks including “Gangsters” and “Ghost Town,” the latter of which remained at No. The post called Hall “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced,” going on to say that “his music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life…

According to a statement from The Specials, Hall died “following a brief illness.” He was remembered as “one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and ...

The statement continued: “Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. In the music world, people have many ups and downs, but I will hang onto the great memories of Terry and I, making history fronting The Specials and Fun Boy three together.” Hall and his bandmates Lynval Golding and Neville Staple left The Specials and formed Fun Boy Three. Staple tweeted that he was “deeply saddened” to get the news. “He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity. He dropped out of school and became addicted to drugs and alcohol.

The Specials tweeted: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the ...

album chart. “His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… Article content

Terry Hall, the frontman for English ska-New Wave band the Specials, has died at 63 after 'a brief illness.'

[also noted that the Go-Go's](https://twitter.com/belindacarlisle/status/1604993543759503365) are "forever bound in music history" with Hall. Fun Boy Three originally recorded the song, but Wiedlen, who had a fling with Hall, [told songwriter website Songfacts.com](https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/jane-wiedlin-from-the-go-gos) that Fun Boy Three’s was “a lot gloomier than the Go-Go’s version.” and Europe in the 1980s alongside like-minded outfits Madness and the English Beat, with songs including “Gangsters,” “A Message to You, Rudy” and “Ghost Town” among their darkly springy hits. In 1984, the Specials’ “Free Nelson Mandela” reached No. [English singer-songwriter-activist Billy Bragg](https://twitter.com/billybragg/status/1604989343218929664) posted a tribute, writing that the band, “were a celebration of how British culture was envigorated by Caribbean immigration” and Hall’s performances “a reminder that they were in the serious business of challenging our perception of who we were in the late 1970s.” [with guitarist Jane Wiedlin](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/10/26/go-gos-reflect-legacy-rock-and-roll-hall-fame-induction-foo-fighters-jay-z-carole-king-tina-tuner/8544035002/) after the all-girl band supported the Specials on a 1980 tour of England.