Colin Vearncombe

Black’s Colin Vearncombe seriously injured in car accident

Colin Vearncombe, the singer-songwriter best known for his 1987 hits Wonderful Life and Sweetest Smile under the group name Black, has been critically injured in a car crash in Ireland.

Little is known about the circumstances surrounding the accident but Vearncombe suffered a serious head injury and is said to be “stable but critical” in hospital where he has been placed in a medically induced coma “to allow him the best possible chance of recovery.” The news was announced on his official website on 12 January, since when there has been little information on any significant change in his condition.

After Vearnecombe’s first gig in 1981 it took Black five years – including a brief period as a duo with Dave Dix – to find a modicum of success when Wonderful Life reached number 72 in the UK chart in September 1986. The following year Black cracked the top ten when Sweetest Smile and a re-recording of Wonderful Life both reached number 8. Black’s dΓ©but album, also called Wonderful Life, made number 3 in the autumn of 1987. Further releases were less successful, but Vearncombe has continued to perform and record, both as Black and under his own name, successfully crowdfunding the latest Black album Blind Faith in 2015.

Our thoughts are with Colin and his family at this difficult time and we wish him a full and speedy recovery.

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