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The Specials star Terry Hall has reportedly left his £1million estate to his family – after passing away age 63.
He died in December 2022 following a secret battle with pancreatic cancer which spread to his liver.
The singer and father-of-three, who pioneered the British ska scene, was receiving chemotherapy after the disease spread to his liver and he developed diabetes, however the treatment failed and he sadly died.
The Sun now reports that probate documents reveal his £952,000 estate will be split between his director wife Lindy Heymann, 56, and his three children.
The publication also claims that Lindy gets his share of The Specials’ royalties from streaming platforms, his digital assets and a £100,000 tax-free gift.
The Specials star Terry Hall has reportedly left his £1million estate to his family – after passing away age 63
The Sun reports that probate documents reveal his £952,000 estate will be split between his director wife Lindy Heymann, 56, (seen) and his three children
The first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry and Neville Staple on vocals, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns.
Announcing Hall’s death on Twitter, the band said in December 2022: ‘It is with great sadness that we announce the passing, following a brief illness, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced.
‘Terry was a wonderful husband and father and one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine of souls. His music and his performances encapsulated the very essence of life… the joy, the pain, the humour, the fight for justice, but mostly the love.’
The post went on to say: ‘He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him and leaves behind the gift of his remarkable music and profound humanity.
‘Terry often left the stage at the end of The Specials’ life-affirming shows with three words… ”Love Love Love”. We would ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy at this very sad time.’
Born in Coventry in 1959, Hall was shaped by a horrific experience of childhood sexual abuse when he was abducted by a paedophile ring on a trip to France aged 12.
Hall sang about the harrowing ordeal with the song Well Fancy That – performed as part of his second band Fun Boy Three – and told interviewers how it left him suffering from bouts of depression and addiction problems.
The band in 2010, pictured left to right: Terry Hall, Neville Staple, Roddy Byers, John Bradbury, Lynval Golding and Nikolaj Larsen
He died in December 2022 following a secret battle with pancreatic cancer which spread to his liver
The singer and father-of-three, who pioneered the British ska scene, was receiving chemotherapy after the disease spread to his liver and he developed diabetes, however the treatment failed and he sadly died (seen in 1980)
The Specials are pictured in 1980 during a trip to New York
The Specials were formed in Hall’s home city of Coventry in 1977, by Jerry Dammers, Golding and Panter – with Hall, Staple, Roddy Byers and John Bradbury joining in the following months.
The band were originally called The Automatics, before changing their name to The Coventry Automatics, The Specials AKA The Automatics and finally, in 1978, settling on The Specials.
They made a name for themselves with their ska and rocksteady style, and for providing a musical backdrop to economic recession, urban decay and societal fracture in the early 1980s.
The reggae punk band’s hits included Ghost Town, which spent three weeks at number one and ten weeks in the UK Top 40. Hall also released two studio albums and has collaborated with the likes Bananarama, Gorillaz and Lily Allen.
The band split in 1981, after which Hall, Golding and Staple went on to form Fun Boy Three, while Dammers and Bradbury released an album under the moniker The Special AKA, which spawned the hit single Free Nelson Mandela in 1984.
Fun Boy Three achieved four UK top ten singles. Hall left the band in 1983 to form The Colourfield with ex-Swinging Cats members Toby Lyons and Karl Shale.
After undertaking a variety of solo and collaborative projects it was announced in 2008 that The Specials would be reforming for tour dates and potential new music.
In September that year, Hall and five members of the band performed at Bestival music festival under the name Very ‘Special’ Guests.
In 2009 he reflected on the performance, saying: ‘Bestival was a trial run. We did an unannounced slot so we could just could turn up, nameless. It was perfect.’
The Specials embarked on a 2009 tour to celebrate their 30th anniversary and in 2018 supported The Rolling Stones during a concert at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
In February 2019, The Specials released Encore, their first album of new material in 37 years.
Hall’s The Specials bandmate Horace Panter revealed in a Facebook post how Hall had wanted to keep his diagnosis private while the group was preparing to record a new reggae album in Los Angeles (Pictured left to right: Bandmates Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter)
Upon release, the album went straight to number one on the Official UK Album Chart, marking their first number one album, and the first time they had topped the charts since their classic track Ghost Town in 1981 and since their single Too Much Too Young became a number one in 1980.
The album’s lead single, the politically-themed Vote For Me, was considered by some fans as a follow-on from Ghost Town, which was hailed as a piece of popular social commentary having been released during the riots across England in 1981.
Hall told The Big Issue magazine in 2019: ‘I find myself in awe of the mess, nightly listening to politicians giving their opinion and thinking, I don’t necessarily trust any of you, really.
‘It is pretty sad. I grew up aligned to a party, the Labour Party, quite strongly. Until Tony Blair made Noel Gallagher prime minister I knew exactly where I stood.’
