Terry Hall Obituary, Death – On December 19, 2022, Terence Edward Hall, 63, passed away. The lead vocalist for the Specials, Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka, and Vegas in the past was English musician Hall. David Stewart, Bananarama, the Lightning Seeds, Sinéad O’Connor, Stephen Duffy, Dub Pistols, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, D12, Tricky, Junkie XL, Leila Arab, Lily Allen, Shakespears Sister, Salad, and Nouvelle Vague are just a few of the acts he has worked with. Two studio albums were also issued under his own name.
Hall was abducted by a pedophile network when he was 12 years old and on his way to France. Hall was born and raised in Coventry, England. He stopped attending school before he was 15 and began performing odd jobs, such as bricklaying, quantity surveying, and apprentice hairdressing. He became a member of the punk band Squad in the late 1970s and became active in the emerging Coventry music scene (Gus Chambers took over when he left them, and he was given composition credit on their “Red Alert” record).
When BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel played their debut song, “Gangsters,” on one of his shows, Hall initially became well-known in the UK. Before the group’s name was changed to the Specials at the beginning of the following year, Hall led the group during the 1977–1978 campaign as “the Coventry Automatics.” The tracks “A Message to You Rudy” and “Too Much Too Young,” which were later made public, were included on the band’s debut studio album, The Specials. The Specials’ second studio album, More Specials, was released in October 1980. They added “Do Nothing,” “Stereotype,” and “Rat Race,” three additional hit singles.
Following its release in June 1981, the song “Ghost Town” spent 10 weeks in the top 40 and three of them weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart. Hall’s double a-side song “Friday Night Saturday Morning” was about a night out at the Coventry Locarno. His debut solo album, Hall’s Home, was released in 1994. The album was created by his former partner Ian Broudie, and it peaked at number 95 on the UK Albums Chart. The CD also includes Les Pattinson, a former bassist for Echo & the Bunnymen. “Sense,” which peaked at No. 54 on the UK Singles Chart, was the album’s standout song.
In 1997, Hall followed up his debut studio album with the release of Laugh. The UK Albums Chart saw it peak at No. 50, making it his most commercially successful solo release to date. Ballad of a Landlord, a UK Top 50 song, is also included. Both albums featured frequent collaborator Craig Gannon. In 1980, he had a brief romantic relationship with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos. On the song “Our Lips Are Sealed,” they worked together. The two sons of Hall and Jeanette Hall are Theo[a] and Felix. Hall was a Manchester United supporter. His 2004 suicide attempt resulted in a diagnosis of manic depression.