Muser Terry Halll, who helped establish the distinctive sounds of post-punk Britain as lead singer of the Specials, Died. He was 63 years old.
The band announced late Monday that Hall had passed away after a short illness. He described him as “our beautiful friend and brother and one of the most skillful singer-songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced”.
Hall joined the band that would become the Specials in the English Midlands town of Coventry in the late 1970s, a time of racial tension, economic gloom and urban unrest. With its mixture of white and black members and a Jamaican-influenced style of sharp suits and porkpie hats, the band became a leader in the anti-racism 2 Tone ska revival movement.
With Hall’s deadpan vocals setting the tone, the Specials captured the precarious mood of the times on songs including “A Message to You, Rudy,” “Rat Race” and “Too Much Young Too Young.”
The band’s most famous song is the sad and menacing “Ghost Town”, which topped the UK music charts in the summer of 1981 when British cities were erupting in riots.
The Specials had seven UK Top 10 hits before Hall and fellow band members Neville Staple and Linvale Goulding left in 1981 to form Fun Boy Three. She scored hits including “It’s Not What You Do (It’s The Way You Do It”) and “Tunnel of Love”.
Hall later formed The Colourfield and collaborated with artists including The Go-Go’s – co-writing the group’s 1981 debut single, “Our Lips Are Sealed”.
The Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin remembered Hall as “a likable, sensitive, talented and unique person.”
“Our very short romance resulted in the song Our Lips Are Sealed, which will forever connect us in music history. Shocking news to hear,” she wrote on Twitter.
Most of the original specials were reunited in 2008
Singer and songwriter Elvis Costello He also offered condolences, saying, “Terry’s voice was the perfect instrument for the true and necessary vocals on ‘Specials. ‘ This sincerity is heard in so many of his songs with joy and sadness.”
Most of the original specials reunited in 2008, staged a 30th anniversary tour in 2009 and in 2019 released an album of new material,”Encorewhich became the band’s debut UK No. 1 album. A follow-up, “Protest Songs 1924-2012”, was released in 2021.
Hall’s bandmates said he was “an amazing husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, most honest souls. His music and performances captured the essence of life… joy, pain, humor, fighting for justice, but mostly love.”
“He will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him and he leaves behind his incredible musical talent and deep humanity. Terry often left the stage at the end of life-affirming specials with three words… ‘Love love love.'”
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