Terry Hall, lead singer of ska band The Specials, dies at 63

Terry Hall performs with The Specials in Australia during the band’s 30th anniversary tour in 2009. (Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

LONDON — Musician Terry Hall, who helped create of the defining sounds of post-punk Britain as lead singer of The Specials, has died. He was 63.

The band announced late Monday that Hall had died after a brief illness. It called him “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced.”