Terry Hall, lead singer of band The Specials, dies

Terry Hall, lead singer of The Specials,

a British group formed in the late 1970s, has died at the age of 63, the band reported Tuesday on its Twitter account.

The band was founded

by Jerry Dammers, Lynval Golding and Horace Panter, while Hall, Staple, Roddy Byers and John Bradbury joined a year later.

"It is with great sadness that we

, of Terry, our beautiful friend, brother, and one of the most brilliant singer-songwriters this country has ever produced," the group said in a note.

Terry Hall was a "wonderful father" and one of the "kindest, funniest and most authentic" people

, the statement added, highlighting the music created by the singer.

"He will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him," but he leaves "remarkable music" and "his deep humanity of him" behind him.

His bandmate Neville Staple tweeted that he was "deeply saddened" to learn of Hall's death.

," he added.

The band was 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.

The band rose to fame in the midst of a deep economic recession, urban decay and social fracturing in the early 1980s.

During their time together, the group The Specials produced a string of hits, including

,

,

, and

, all of which all reached number one.

The band broke up in 1981, and Hall, Golding and Staple went on to form the Fun Boy Three,

while Dammers and Bradbury released an album under the name The Special AKA, which spawned the hit single

in 1984.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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