Boy band member Sunny U4 has died, says close friend

The photo of Sunny U4 posted by Nick U4, whose real name is Naphat Ausawachanon, on his Facebook account while announcing the death of the boy band singer

Sunny, a member of boy band U4, has died, a close friend said on Monday.

Naphat Ausawachanon,  a fellow band member known as Nick U4, posted a short Facebook message announcing the death of Sunny at a condominium. The cause of the death was still unknown, he wrote initially.

But later he told reporters that Sunny had died of cancer and succumbed while being sent to a hospital for treatment on Monday.

A picture of Sunny U4 on the @sunny_u4 Twitter account in 2018.

U4 was a four-member band popular in the 1990s. It later disbanded.

Sunny, whose real name was Yanwarut Sutthawas, later underwent transgender surgery to become a woman.

Sunny claimed to have known her true gender while part of the boy band, but did not dare tell the fans.