The musician’s family revealed that he passed away on Friday in Trinidad.

Tony Wilson, Hot Chocolate founder and ‘You Sexy Thing’ cowriter, dies at 89

The musician's family revealed that he passed away on Friday in Trinidad.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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on April 28, 2026 4:21 p.m. ET

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Hot Chocolate musician Tony Wilson. Credit:

Echoes/Redferns

- Soul musician Tony Wilson died on Friday.

- Wilson was a founder of Hot Chocolate and co-writer of "You Sexy Thing."

- Hot Chocolate's hit song was memorably used in *Boogie Nights* and *The Full Monty*.

Tony Wilson, Hot Chocolate founder and "You Sexy Thing" co-writer, has died. He was 89.

Wilson's family announced on social media that the soul musician passed away on Friday at his home in Trinidad. "Dad left us today," the post read. "He left a lot of music behind... forever and ever."

Wilson wrote songs for artists like Herman's Hermits and Mavis John, but he was best known for launching the popular British soul band Hot Chocolate. Wilson and singer Errol Brown met in 1968 and began working together, soon forming Hot Chocolate. Their big break came when they wrote a new version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance," and the song made its way to Lennon, who liked it so much that he signed Hot Chocolate to the Beatles' record label, Apple Records.

Hot Chocolate performs in 1971.

Wilson was initially the lead singer, but he was still under contract elsewhere, and so Brown sang on "Give Peace a Chance," leading to him taking on the role moving forward, with Wilson as the bass guitarist. But the duo wrote the group's biggest hits together, including "Love Is Life," "You Could Have Been a Lady," "Emma," and "Brother Louie." Their most iconic track, 1975's "You Sexy Thing," peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was memorably used in the films *Boogie Nights* and* The Full Monty*.

Shortly after the success of "You Sexy Thing," Wilson left Hot Chocolate to pursue a solo career, and he released his first album, *I Like Your Style*, in 1976.

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"Words don't do justice to the admiration I have for him as a human being or for his dedication to make his dream of getting the songs he wrote be heard," Wilson's son Danny wrote in a Facebook tribute. "It wasn't until my mum dug out some old diaries of his from 1970 and '71 that I realised just how hard he had to work to achieve this dream. Trust me, it is truly staggering."

Danny continued, "I am very lucky. I can open up YouTube and see him and hear his voice whenever I want. And this weekend, I've been doing that a lot."

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