Terry Hall of ska band The Specials dies at 63. His songs 'encapsulated the very essence of life'

Terry Hall, lead singer of British ska-New Wave band the Specials, has died at 63.

The death of the frontman was announced by the band on its official social media pages, which noted that Hall passed “after a brief illness.”

Calling him “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced,” the band also praised Hall’s music and performances that “encapsulated the very essence of life…the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly love.”

The statement ends with the words Hall would use at the close of the Specials’ live performances: “Love, love, love.”

Hall, who was also known for collaborations with Dave Stewart and Damon Albarn, joined The Specials shortly after their formation in 1977 in Coventry, England.

The first official lineup of the band included fellow singer Neville Staple, guitarists Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation, bassist Horace Panter, keyboardist/primary songwriter Jerry Dammers, drummer John Bradbury and horn players Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez.

While never a major musical force in the U.S., the band flourished in the U.K. and Europe in the 1980s alongside like-minded outfits Madness and the English Beat, with songs including “Gangsters,” “A Message to You, Rudy” and “Ghost Town” among their darkly springy hits.

In 1984, the Specials’ “Free Nelson Mandela” reached No. 34 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs Chart – as it was then known – giving the band its only mainstream presence in the U.S. (as Special AKA, sans Hall).

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Following the European success of “Ghost Town,” Hall departed The Specials to start Fun Boy Three with bandmates Golding and Staple.

During his Fun Boy Three years, Hall also co-wrote The Go-Go’s 1981 debut single, “Our Lips Are Sealed,” with guitarist Jane Wiedlin after the all-girl band supported the Specials on a 1980 tour of England. Fun Boy Three originally recorded the song, but Wiedlen, who had a fling with Hall, told songwriter website Songfacts.com that Fun Boy Three’s was “a lot gloomier than the Go-Go’s version.”

In 2007, Hall reunited with Golding for the first time in 24 years and in 2008, the Specials returned for a series of concerts with all but founding member Jerry Dammers joining them.

The Specials released their ninth album in 2021, “Protest Songs 1924-2012,” with Hall joined by Golding and Panter.

Among those paying tribute to Hall were Wiedlin, who said she was "gutted" to hear of his death.

"He was a lovely, sensitive, talented and unique person," she wrote, adding that their connection through "Our Lips Are Sealed" will "forever tie us together in music history."

Wiedlin's bandmate, Belinda Carlisle, also noted that the Go-Go's are "forever bound in music history" with Hall.

English singer-songwriter-activist Billy Bragg posted a tribute, writing that the band, “were a celebration of how British culture was envigorated by Caribbean immigration” and Hall’s performances “a reminder that they were in the serious business of challenging our perception of who we were in the late 1970s.”

And Elvis Costello described Hall's voice as "the perfect instrument for the true and necessary songs on 'The Specials.' That honesty is heard in so many of his songs in joy and sorrow."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Specials singer Terry Hall dies at 63 after brief illness