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Terence "Astro" Wilson: From 1978 to 1983 he played in the reggae and pop band UB40
Photo: Gie Knaeps / Getty Images
The former singer and founding member of the British band UB 40, Terence "Astro" Wilson, is dead. As his current band confirmed, the musician died at the age of 64 after a short illness.
Wilson played in the reggae and pop band UB40 from 1978 to 1983.
In the 1980s, the British musicians celebrated great international success with songs such as "Red Red Wine" and "Can't Help Falling in Love".
After separating from UB 40 in 2013, Wilson founded the group "UB40 featuring Ali Campbell & Astro" together with his former bandmate Ali Campbell.
The band wanted to go on tour in the coming year.
In a statement on the band's official Twitter it says: "We are absolutely devastated and it breaks our hearts to have to tell you that our beloved Astro passed away today after a very brief illness."
The statement goes on to say: “Without him, the world will never be the same.
We ask you to respect his family's privacy during this incredibly difficult time. "
A voice of the informed working class
Wilson had given one of his last interviews to the British Guardian in May of this year.
In it he said that when the band UB40 was founded in 1978, it was the voice of the informed working class.
In their lyrics, the musicians repeatedly dealt with social issues such as racism or unemployment.
The band name itself was an allusion to the British unemployment insurance form "Unemployment Benefit, Form 40".
Wilson told the Guardian that he himself had numerous experiences of racism.
Arbitrary arrests of blacks were the order of the day at the end of the 1970s.
“We found it more difficult to write love songs than militant lyrics because it was much easier to write about things that you had seen or read.
It seemed natural to us, ”Wilson said in the interview.
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