Terry Hall was diagnosed with cancer before his death, his bandmate reveals

The Specials' frontman Terry Hall had been diagnosed with crab soon earlier his decease this week astatine the property of 63, his bandmate has confirmed.

Bassist Horace Panter gave a moving relationship of his friend's last days revealing they had planned to grounds a caller medium successful November earlier Hall was taken sick with a suspected tummy bug.

It aboriginal transpired to beryllium pancreatic cancer, which had dispersed to his liver.

Initial attraction went well, but Hall began to slice successful December, Panter said.

"Reports are not good," helium wrote. "Terry has mislaid a batch of value and is precise frail.

"His person Ian Broudie [of The Lightning Seeds] visits and phones manager Steve. He fears that Terry is slipping away."

He continued: "15th December and manager Steve drives up to London to visit. He calls maine connected his instrumentality travel and says things are not looking promising. Terry is dying. The adjacent time helium is enactment connected morphine and is more-or-less unconscious for astir of the time."

Panter said helium had planned to sojourn his person successful hospital, but was advised not to by Hall's woman Lindy, who arranged a telephone telephone to accidental goodbye.

"It was tough," Panter said. "Terry died astir fractional past 5 the adjacent evening, Sunday 18th December.

"The satellite has mislaid a unsocial dependable and I person mislaid a bully friend."

Speaking connected LBC, Barry Ashworth, frontman of Dub Pistols, added that Hall's past words had been "Love, love, love" - the aforesaid operation helium often utilized to adjacent shows.

"Never hide it," Ashworth told presenter Andrew Marr, adding: "I've mislaid 1 of my heroes, but I've mislaid 1 of my dearest, dearest, dearest friends."

Tributes to Hall, who besides fronted bands including Fun Boy Three and The Colourfield, poured successful from crossed the euphony satellite connected Tuesday, with friends and colleagues remembering his warmth and adust humour, arsenic overmuch arsenic his music.

Pogues frontman MacGowan wrote that helium was "really [expletive] bittersweet to perceive astir Terry Hall", adding: "He was a large feline and I americium praying for his household and friends @thespecials."

Stone Roses vocalist Ian Brown called the instrumentalist "a philharmonic pioneer, a existent original, 1 of the large frontmen, an inspiration and a beauteous fella".

Blur's Damon Albarn, who has often described Hall arsenic an inspiration, posted a moving soft screen of The Specials' Friday Night, Sunday Morning to societal media, accompanied by the caption: "Terry, you meant the satellite to me. I emotion you."

Madness, who were besides astatine the forefront of the 80s ska movement, shared a achromatic and achromatic representation of Hall connected Twitter, writing: "A unspeakable nonaccomplishment to each of us, mode excessively young, RIP Terry Hall."

And Billy Bragg recalled: "The Specials were a solemnisation of however British civilization was invigorated by Caribbean migration but the onstage demeanour of their pb vocalist was a reminder that they were successful the superior concern of challenging our cognition of who we were successful the precocious 1970s."

The Specials were formed successful Hall's location metropolis of Coventry successful 1977 by Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter - with Hall, Neville Staple, Roddy Byers and John Bradbury joining a twelvemonth later.

They scored 7 consecutive apical 10 hits with tracks similar Gangsters, A Message To You Rudy, Too Much, Too Young and Ghost Town earlier Hall near to signifier Fun Boy Three successful 1981.

He rejoined the set for a reunion circuit successful 2008; and they scored their archetypal ever fig 1 medium with 2019's Encore.

The set announced his decease pursuing a "brief illness" connected Monday night.

In a statement, they asked for privacy, adding: "He volition beryllium profoundly missed by each who knew and loved him and leaves down the acquisition of his singular euphony and profound humanity."