Terry Hall, who helped create one of the defining sounds of post-punk Britain as the lead singer of the band, The Specials, has died. The group announced that Hall, 63, passed away after a brief illness. They called him “our beautiful friend, brother and one of the most brilliant singers, songwriters and lyricists this country has ever produced.” 

In the late 1970s, during the time of racial tension, economic gloom and urban unrest, Hall joined the band that came to be known as The Specials. Their most iconic song is the melancholic and menacing Ghost Town, which topped the UK music charts in the summer of 1981 as Britain’s cities were erupting in riots.