The Wanted singer, Tom Parker has passed away aged 33 after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Parker’s wife, Kelsey Hardwick announced the sad news on Instagram with the following statement:
“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. Thank you to everyone who has supported in his care throughout, he fought until the very end. I’m forever proud of you.”
The UK band formed in 2009, made up of Parker, Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Nathan Sykes and Jay McGuiness. The band also made a statement following the news of Parker’s death:
“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 band mates.
“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. Tom Parker 1988-2022.”
Parker was born and grew up in Bolton, Greater Manchester in England. He learned to play the guitar at the age of 16 and then went on to audition for The X Factor, but did not get past the first round of auditions.
He attended the Manchester Metropolitan University and studied Geography, however dropped out in pursuit of a professional singing career. Parker joined a Take That tribute band known as Take That II and toured Northern England before joining The Wanted in 2009.
Parker married Hardwick in 2018, the pair welcoming a daughter in 2019 and a son in 2020.
The Wanted has been certified for 600,000 albums and 2 million singles in the UK, and their nominations include 14 World Music Awards, two Brit Awards, an American Music Award and a MTV Video Music Award.
The Wanted's debut album, The Wanted (2010), peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, which included three UK top 20 singles, including All Time Low, which debuted at number one.
In early 2012, the Wanted began to achieve success in the United States and Canada when their hit single Glad You Came became their second UK number-one and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 for four non-consecutive weeks, becoming the highest American chart entry by a British boy band at the time.
On 8 September 2021, the band announced that they would be reuniting with a greatest hits album and a performance at a charity concert at the Royal Albert Hall in support of Parker, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in late 2020.
The band still boast almost 6 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and began discussions about getting back together in early 2020 to celebrate their 10th anniversary – before learning of Parker’s illness.
“Tom, in his characteristically no-nonsense manner, decided to turn a personal tragedy into something more positive and set out to make a documentary for Channel 4 and Stand Up To Cancer titled Tom Parker-Inside My Head,” read a statement on The Wanted’s website.
Parker staged a huge pop concert at the Royal Albert Hall to raise crucial funding for more medical research into finding new treatments for the disease.