Tony Wilson, Hot Chocolate founder and 'You Sexy Thing' cowriter, dead at 89
Phoebe Tonks
Featured Image Credit: Michael Putland/Getty Images
Tony Wilson, Hot Chocolate founder and "You Sexy Thing" co-writer, has sadly died at the age of 89, his family have confirmed.
Wilson's family announced the heartbreaking news of his passing on social media, when they confirmed that the soul musician passed away on Friday at his home in Trinidad. "Dad left us today," the post read. "He left a lot of music behind... forever and ever.”
Throughout his career, Wilson wrote songs for artists like Herman's Hermits and Mavis John, but he was best known for launching the popular British soul band Hot Chocolate.
Wilson and singer Errol Brown met in 1968 and began working together, soon forming Hot Chocolate. After a positive early start, their big break came when they wrote a new version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance," which impressed the Beatle so much, he soon signed the band to Apple Records, the Beatles’ own record label.
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When the band first formed, Wilson was the lead singer, however due to a contract commitment elsewhere, he was forced to hand the reins to Brown and step into the roll of bass guitarist instead. Together, the duo wrote "Love Is Life," "You Could Have Been a Lady," "Emma," and "Brother Louie,” some of the biggest hits of the band’s entire career. Their most famous track however is 1975’s “You Sexy Thing”, which hit number 3 on the Billboard chart and gained international acclaim after being featured in two huge films Boogie Nights and The Full Monty.
Shortly after the success of "You Sexy Thing," Wilson left Hot Chocolate to pursue a solo career, and he released his first album, I Like Your Style, in 1976 before continuing to release and perform numerous other musical offerings as he continued to develop and explore his love of sound.
"Words don't do justice to the admiration I have for him as a human being or for his dedication to make his dream of getting the songs he wrote be heard," Wilson's son Danny wrote in a Facebook tribute. "It wasn't until my mum dug out some old diaries of his from 1970 and '71 that I realised just how hard he had to work to achieve this dream. Trust me, it is truly staggering."
Danny continued, "I am very lucky. I can open up YouTube and see him and hear his voice whenever I want. And this weekend, I've been doing that a lot."