Hot Chocolate founding member Tony Wilson dead at 78
Tony Wilson, one of the founding members of the 1970s band Hot Chocolate, has died aged 78.
The news was announced by Wilson’s daughter in a Facebook post over the weekend, revealing that her father had passed away in Trinidad.
In the post, she said: “He left a lot of music behind…forever and ever,” before adding, “I am thankful that on Friday 17th during our conscious talk time he was led to the Lord with understanding. Some mornings later he asked for prayers. He said that he was leaving.”
The statement continued: “The peace that I have is knowing that his soul escaped. He is in and at peace. That is the peace I also have. I give God thanks and praise. Look around….We carry nothing with us. We have to make our election sure. This is serious. The question remains, in the end, where will we spend eternity?”
No cause of death was confirmed.
Wilson shot to fame alongside Errol Brown in the soul band Hot Chocolate during the 1970s, after they initially met as neighbours and decided to begin performing together.
The band got their first start signed to Apple Records, after they created a reggae cover version of John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’ and got the approval of the man himself.
However, when the label soon folded with the break-up of The Beatles, they moved on to greater heights, managing to create at least one chart hit in the UK top 40 every year from 1970 to 1984.
They were subsequently behind a slew of global hits including ‘You Sexy Thing’, ‘Every 1’s a Winner’, and ‘Emma’, all of which either hit number one or scored in the top ten across the UK, Canada, and the US.
Although Hot Chocolate has an extensive line-up of past and present members, it was Wilson and Brown who were hailed with the main genesis of the band, having been one of the first Black British groups to garner transatlantic success. Brown passed away in 2015, aged 71.
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