The Specials’ Terry Hall ‘diagnosed with cancer’ weeks before death, bandmate Horace Panter reveals

Terry Hall died on Sunday following a ‘brief illness’ (Picture: Getty Images)

The Specials singer Terry Hall had endured a short battle with cancer in the weeks before his death, according to his bandmate. 

The singer, who was frontman of the reggae band, died on Sunday at the age of 63. A cause of death was not immediately revealed but Hall’s representatives revealed in their statement that he suffered a ‘brief illness’. 

Tributes have continued to pour in for Hall, with his Specials bandmate Horace Panter the latest to share warm words about the late singer. 

In a heartbreaking Facebook post, Panter details Hall’s final weeks and how his health suddenly deteriorated before he was diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. 

Panter, 69, explained that the band were due to fly out to Los Angeles, California to work on their new album in November, but their plans were delayed as Hall was ‘in bed with a stomach bug’. 

He was then admitted to hospital, at which point Panter says ‘everything turns to s**t’. 

‘Terry’s illness is a lot worse than we thought. He has been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas which has spread to his liver,’ he writes. ‘This is serious. Like life-threatening serious. He has developed diabetes due to his pancreas being attacked. This has to be treated first, then it’s a regime of chemotherapy.

‘There is nothing anyone can do. Everything is put on hold.’ 

Hall began chemotherapy and the treatment started ‘favourably’, according to Panther, but then it ‘goes quiet’. 

‘Beginning of December and reports are not good. Terry has lost a lot of weight and is very frail. His friend Ian Broudie visits and phones Manager Steve. He fears that Terry is slipping away,’ he said. 

Hall was aged 63 (Picture: Shutterstock)

He rose to fame as a member of The Specials, formed in the 1970s (Picture: Redferns)

‘15th December and Manager Steve drives up to London to visit. He calls me on his return journey and says things are not looking promising. Terry is dying. The next day he is put on morphine and is more-or-less unconscious for most of the time.’ 

Panter, who plays bass in The Specials, planned to go and visit his longtime friend but was reportedly advised not to by Hall’s wife Lindy, who instead arranged a phone call to say goodbye. 

He recalled: ‘It was tough. Terry died around half past 5 the next evening, Sunday 18th December.

‘The world has lost a unique voice and I have lost a good friend.’ 

As a member of The Specials, Hall was best known for hits such as Too Much Too Young, Ghost Town, Rat Race and A Message To You, Rudy. The Specials rose to fame in the 1970s and, following their split in 1981, Hall collaborated with the likes of Lily Allen and Damon Albarn.

MORE : Bandmates pay tribute to The Specials’ Terry Hall, whose music ‘encapsulated the very essence of life’

MORE : Neville Staple ‘didn’t realise how serious’ The Specials bandmate Terry Hall’s illness was before death as Boy George and Frank Turner join tributes

Hall died this week aged 63.