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Artist News
The Wanted’s Tom Parker dies
By Andy Malt | Published on Thursday 31 March 2022
The Wanted’s Tom Parker has died, aged 33, eighteen months after announcing that he had been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
A statement posted on the band’s social media accounts yesterday read: “Max, Jay, Siva, Nathan and the whole Wanted family are devastated by the tragic and premature loss of our bandmate Tom Parker, who passed away peacefully at lunchtime today surrounded by his family and his bandmates. Tom was an amazing husband to Kelsey, and father to Aurelia and Bodhi. He was our brother, words can’t express the loss and sadness we feel. Always and forever in our hearts”.
His wife Kelsey added: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we confirm Tom passed away peacefully earlier today with all of his family by his side. Our hearts are broken, Tom was the centre of our world and we can’t imagine life without his infectious smile and energetic presence”.
“We are truly thankful for the outpouring of love and support and ask that we all unite to ensure Tom’s light continues to shine for his beautiful children”, she went on. “Thank you to everyone who has supported in his care throughout, he fought until the very end. I’m forever proud of you”.
Parker joined The Wanted in 2009, following mass auditions to find members for the group which were orchestrated by Jayne Collins, who had put together The Saturdays two years earlier. With all five members in place, The Wanted then released their debut single, ‘All Time Low’, the following year, which went to number one in the UK.
The band released three albums before going on hiatus in 2014. The same year Parker released a one-off solo single, a collaboration with Richard Rawson – aka Fazer of N-Dubz – called ‘Fireflies’. In the following years he also appeared as a contestant on ‘Celebrity Masterchef’ and ‘The Jump’, and in 2017 joined the cast of the UK tour of ‘Grease’.
Following Parker’s cancer diagnosis in 2020, The Wanted began discussing a reunion, announcing their return in September last year. That month they took part in a charity concert – which came off the back of a Channel 4 documentary fronted by Parker, titled ‘Inside My Head’ – to raise money for cancer charities Stand Up to Cancer and The National Brain Appeal. They also released a greatest hits album and their first new single for seven years, ‘Rule The World’.
Earlier this month, they completed a twelve date UK tour, via which they also raised money for The Brain Tumour Charity. Parker made brief appearances on stage at select dates, with his final show at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on 17 Mar.
A number of times in 2021, Parker had said that his tumour was responding to treatment, tweeting last November: “I’m sat here with tears in my eyes as I tell you we’ve got my brain tumour under control. We had the results from my latest scan… and I’m delighted to say it is STABLE. Such a mix of emotions. We couldn’t ask for any more really at this point; a year or so in to this journey”.
Parker’s autobiography, ‘Hope: My Inspirational Journey’, is due to be published in July.
