Terry Hall (singer)
Terence Edward Hall (19 March 1959 – 18 December 2022) was a British musician who came to prominence as the lead singer of the 2-tone band the Specials, and later recorded with groups such as Fun Boy Three, the Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka, and Vegas.[1]
Terry Hall
Terence Edward Hall
19 March 1959
Coventry, Warwickshire, England
18 December 2022 (aged 63)
- Singer
- songwriter
- musician
1978–2022
- Anxious
- Southsea Bubble Company
Jeanette Hall, Lindy Heymann
Hall released two solo studio albums and also collaborated with many artists including David Stewart, Bananarama, the Lightning Seeds, Sinéad O'Connor, Stephen Duffy, Dub Pistols, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, D12, Tricky, Lily Allen and Shakespears Sister.
Early life
Terence Edward Hall was born on 19 March 1959 in Coventry, England, where he was also raised. He had a German-Jewish grandfather, and said of his heritage, "I grew up in an environment where you didn't really know where you were from. Coventry was built on immigrants because it was an industrial city looking for cheap labour. I don't think it's an accident that a group like the Specials came out of that".[2]
Hall was abducted by a paedophile ring on a trip to France at the age of 12. He wrote about it in an autobiographical song "Well Fancy That!" on the Fun Boy Three's second album. He suffered from depression afterwards, ultimately leaving school before his fifteenth birthday, taking various short-term jobs, such as a bricklayer, quantity surveyor, and apprentice hairdresser.[3][4]
Personal life and death
Hall had a brief romantic relationship with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's in 1980. They co-wrote the song "Our Lips Are Sealed".[27] Hall had two sons with his first wife, Jeanette Hall,[28][29] including the DJ Felix Hall,[30] and another son with his second wife, Lindy Heymann.[5]
Hall said that he suffered from lifelong depression after being abducted and sexually abused at the age of 12. He later became addicted to the Valium he had been prescribed.[5] Following a suicide attempt in 2004, Hall was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[31]
Hall died on 18 December 2022 from pancreatic cancer, at the age of 63.[31][32]