British singer and founding member of UB40 Terence Wilson, better familiar by his stage name Astro, has passed away after a short disease, his current band confirmed.
We are absolutely shocked and completely heartbroken to have to tell you that our beloved Astro has today passed away after a very short disease,” a statement on Ali Campbell and Astro’s Twitter account said on Saturday. “The world will never be the exact without him.”
Wilson was part of British reggae band UB40 for more than 30 years, before leaving the band to join breakaway group UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and Astro in 2013.
UB40 formed in Birmingham in the late 1970s, and over the next 3 decades discover success with hits additionally “Red Red Wine” and “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love.”
The band dealt with social and political issues head-on in their songs, giving voice to working class dissatisfaction with the status quo of the time.
“I went via the exact rigmarole as most black people in the late 70s,” Astro told The Guardian in May, remembering the “sus law” that allowed the “weekly occurrence” of police arresting people who were deemed to be acting suspiciously – often on racist pretexts.
We found it harder to write love songs than militant lyrics, because it was a lot easier to write about stuff you had witnessed or read about. It looked natural to us,” he said.
The current iteration of UB40 also paid tribute to the musician, writing on Saturday: “We have heard tonight, the sad news that former-member of UB40, Terence Wilson, better familiar as Astro, has passed away after a short disease. Our sincere condolences to his family.”
Another of the band’s founding members, Brian Travers, passed away due to cancer cancer in August at the age of 62.