Errol Brown, lead singer of Hot Chocolate who had a string of hits between 1970 and 1984, has died at the age of 71.
Formed in 1969, Hot Chocolate had their first brush with fame when they sent a reggae version of Give Peace a Chance to John Lennon, who loved it and promptly signed them up to the Apple label. The following year the band moved to Mickie Most’s Rak Records where they enjoyed an incredible run of success, scoring at least one top sixty hit every year for the next fifteen years. The band’s biggest hit singles include Emma (1974, #3), No Doubt About It (1980, #2) and It Started With a Kiss (1982, #5), although they are perhaps best remembered for their only number 1 hit, 1977’s So You Win Again, and You Sexy Thing which became a top ten hit on three separate occasions in three separate decades – originally reaching no.2 in 1975, a remixed version hit no.10 in 1987 while the original returned to no.6 after its use in the film The Full Monty in 1997. Brown also scored a solo hit after the band’s split with 1987’s Personal Touch.
Brown retired from touring in 2009 and died from liver cancer on the morning of 6th May 2015.
