Legendary British soul singer Noel McKoy has died aged 62.
Colleagues of the London -born singer expressed ‘shock’ and ‘sadness' at his death saying they had lost another ‘comrade’ and ‘soldier.’
From his humble beginnings in a school band called The Albions to reaching the UK Top Ten, his collection of soul, funk and gospel songs remain in the hearts of those who knew his work.
Friends and heavy-hitter in the music industry paid tribute to the ‘voice of an angel’, whose career saw duets with Beverly Knight, Vanessa Simon and Mica Paris.
British musician Leee John took to Twitter after hearing the sad news.
He wrote: “Very sad to hear of the passing of my friend @mckoynoel very sad news #RIP #NoelMcKoy."
While legendary British broadcaster Robbie Vincent also took to social media to pay his respects.
He tweeted: “Saddened to hear news that important UK Soul/R&B singer #NoelMcKoy had died. Respect.”
Tributes continued to pour in for the much-loved artists from across the UK music scene including OBE recipient and DJ Jazzie B as well as BBC Radio 6 DJ Gilles Peterson.
DJ Jazzie B tweeted: “Sadly lost another soldier. RIEP brother Noel McKoy.”
The sadness was echoed by Gilles Peterson who also tweeted: "Sad news. UK soul singer Noel McKoy has passed away. His voice was ever present on so many tunes.”
According to summersolstice.co.uk, Noel made his debut back in the late 1980’s at the start of the acid Jazz explosion.
He attended an audition at Polydor’s Hammersmith offices and the rest was history.
He lent his vocals to the James Taylor Quartet’s chart hit - ‘Love The Life’, and joined them on several world tours
Noel’s debut solo album ‘Brighter Day’ was then released in 2009.
Before his passing, he was part of The British Collective collaboration with Junior Giscombe, Omar, Don-E and Imagination’s Leee John.
