The Specials singer Terry Hall had been diagnosed with cancer shortly before his death, his former bandmate Horace Panter has said.
Panter, the ska band’s bass player, said the three-piece planned to record a new album in November before Hall was taken to hospital with a suspected stomach bug.
It transpired to be pancreatic cancer which had spread to his liver and despite initial treatment going well, Hall “faded” and died this week aged 63.
The Specials were a much-loved ska and 2-tone band, known for hits A Message to You Rudy, Ghost Town and Rat Race.
Panter wrote on Facebook that the band were looking to be in Los Angeles to record a reggae album which they had planned for 2020 but had needed to push back. He said “confidence was high” as Hall had the framework for eight songs.
“But then everything turned to s***,” he said. “Terry’s illness was a lot worse than we thought.”
He added: “He had developed diabetes due to his pancreas being attacked. This had to be treated first, before a regime of chemotherapy.
“There is nothing anyone could do. Everything was put on hold. Terry was emphatic that no-one could be told about this. If anyone asked, [the line was] ‘he’s managing his diabetes’.
“He was in and out of hospital to stabilise the diabetes issue and also to manage pain. It then went quiet.”
Panter wrote that Hall had become “very frail” at the start of November and that “reports were not good”. Lightning Seeds singer Ian Broudie visited and said he felt Hall was “slipping away”.
The statement continued: “I thought it would be best for me to go and visit but Lindy, his wife, advised against it. She held her phone to Terry’s ear so that his sisters and [third Specials member] Lynva Golding can say their goodbyes.
“She suggested I do the same. So, I did. It was tough. Terry died around half past 5 the next evening, Sunday, December 18.
“The world has lost a unique voice and I have lost a good friend.”
The Specials formed in Coventry in 1977 and they had several top ten hits through the late part of that decade and into the eighties, when Hall left to form Fun Boy Three in 1981. Other members continued in various incarnations before the original band reunited in 2008 and had their first number one album with Encore in 2019.
Terry, you meant the world to me. I love you. pic.twitter.com/0JFpRZUEmb
— Damon Albarn (@Damonalbarn) December 20, 2022
Barry Ashworth, frontman of Dub Pistols, told LBC radio that Hall’s final words were “love, love, love,” a phrase he used to end The Specials’ live shows.
Tributes came in from Hall’s friends and music contemporaries including Shane MacGowan of The Pogues and Ian Brown of Stone Roses.
Damon Albarn posted a cover of The Specials’ Friday Night, Sunday Morning he performed on piano. The Blur and Gorillaz man wrote: "Terry, you meant the world to me. I love you."
