Hot Chocolate star Tony Wilson, who was best known for the band’s 1975 hit “You Sexy Thing”, has died aged 89.
Wilson’s family confirmed that the bassist, who formed the band with Errol Brown, died on Friday (24 April), with his daughter announcing the news on Facebook.
“He left a lot of music behind…forever and ever,” she wrote. “I am thankful that on Friday 17th, during our conscious talk time, he was led to the Lord with understanding.” She added that he is now “at peace”.
Wilson’s son, Danny, also shared an emotional tribute to his musical dad, writing that he died at his home in Trinidad. “Words don’t do justice to the admiration I have for him as a human being or for his dedication to make his dream of getting the songs he wrote be heard,” he said.
He also revealed that he’d dug out the Hot Chocolate star’s old diaries from the Seventies. “I realised just how hard he had to work to achieve this dream,” he said. “Trust me, it is truly staggering. The knockbacks, the interviews, the touring, the radio shows, the meticulous documenting of record sales. All the pressures of what was a cut-throat music industry in the Seventies. It’s all in those diaries.
“I had the privilege of sitting down with him and going through those diaries with him on my trip to Trinidad with my family last year, and I will hold that memory dear for the rest of my days. The way he lit up when I read each entry to him was the most animated I think I ever saw him, and he remembered just about everything he had painstakingly documented over half a century ago.”
Born in Trinidad, Wilson started his career in a number of different bands – The Flames, The Souvenirs and The Corduroys – before meeting Hot Chocolate bandmate Brown in the late Sixties.
They formed the band in 1968 and found success with hits like “Love is Life”, “You Could Have Been a Lady” and “Emma”. In 1975, they released the track “You Sexy Thing”, which reached number two in the British charts and was later featured in the 1997 comedy The Full Monty.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 30-day free trial. Terms apply.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Wilson left Hot Chocolate in 1975 to pursue a solo career, with Brown telling The Independent in 1998 that they had lost touch after the band split. “Tony and I had been extremely close, almost like brothers, and although he was happy that he had finally got off the ground with Hot Chocolate, he was probably a bit peeved that I was the singer,” he said.
“Tony had started as the frontman, but ended up having to hide behind me. The problems got worse until we had a row about a B-side I had written. I told him: ‘If that is the way that you feel, I don’t think we should share royalties any more.’ His retort was: ‘I don’t want to share anything with you anyway.’ It must be very tough for him now because that song was “You Sexy Thing”, which went on to become a standard. That one argument must have cost him millions of pounds.”
Hot Chocolate continued as a band after Wilson’s exit. Brown died from liver cancer aged 71 in 2015, while original guitarist Franklyn Delano De Allie died three years later.