Errol Brown, lead singer of the band Hot Chocolate, died May 6 due to liver cancer according to his manager Phil Dale. Brown was 71.
In this June, 24, 1999 file photo, Errol Brown, frontman of the band Hot Chocolate performs. The singer died in the Bahamas aged 71, his manager said on Wednesday, May, 6, 2015. (Sean Dempsey/PA Via AP, File)
“I lost my friend today,” Dale wrote on Twitter. “It was a joy being his Manager and his legacy is his music which will live on. RIP Errol Brown.”
Hot Chocolate was a British soul band started in the 1970s by Brown and Tony Wilson.
They started their career with a reggae version of John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” which led them to being signed to Apple Records.
The group was best known for their international ‘70s hits “You Sexy Thing” and “Every 1’s a Winner.” In addition they had five top-40 pop hits between 1975 and 1979.
“Errol was a lover of life and obviously ‘music!’” Dale said in a statement cited by BBC. “I never went into his home, car or a hotel room without music playing. Errol was a ‘Gentle Man’ and was a personal friend of mine who will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him.”
Brown, who was born in Jamaica but moved to England at the age of 12, was honored in 2003 with a Member of the Order of the British Empire appointment for his services to popular music in the United Kingdom. In 2004, he received an Ivor Novello Award for his musical contributions.
According to Dale, Brown died at his home in the Bahamas, surrounded by his wife and two daughters.