Soul legend Tony Wilson, who co-wrote numerous hits as co-founder and bassist of the band Hot Chocolate, has died at age 89. Wilson was born in Trinidad and played with several bands before forming Hot Chocolate with his friend Errol Brown in the late 1960s. The group—which incorporated elements of soul, rock, reggae, and disco—topped the charts in the U.K. for several years before their silver-certified “Emma,” which Wilson co-wrote with Brown, became their first American hit in 1975, reaching no. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, “You Sexy Thing,” also co-written by Wilson and Brown, went platinum in the U.K. and spent several weeks in the U.S. top 10. Those hits made Hot Chocolate the first predominantly Black group from the U.K. to achieve major chart success in America. Also in 1975, Wilson left the band to pursue a solo career and continued releasing music until 1983. His children confirmed on Facebook that he had died over the weekend at his home in Trinidad of unspecified causes.
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