Hot Chocolate frontman Errol Brown has died aged 71, his manager said.

The singer, famous for hits including You Sexy Thing and It Started With A Kiss, died at home in the Bahamas.

His manager, Phil Dale, said the singer had suffered from liver cancer.

Brown, who is survived by his wife Ginette and two daughters, Colette and Leonie, was made an MBE in 2003.

Mr Dale said he was “a wonderful gentleman”.

He said: “There was always music around wherever he was. I’ve been with him in the middle of Australia and he has got an idea for a song and started writing.

“Errol was a lover of life and obviously music.

“I never went into his home, car or a hotel room without music playing. And it always played constantly in his dressing room before a concert.

“Errol was a gentle man and was a personal friend of mine who will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him. His greatest legacy is that his music will live on.”

Brown scored his first success with Hot Chocolate in 1970 with the top 10 track Love Is Life and went on to have more than 20 top 40 hits, many of which he wrote.

The Full Monty

You Sexy Thing made it into the top 10 three times - helped along in 1997 by its use in the film The Full Monty - and the band had their only number one with So You Win Again in 1977.

It Started With A Kiss also charted three times.

The band, who got together in Brixton, south London, had fans in high places - in 1981 they played at a pre-wedding bash in Buckingham Palace for the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer.

The singer, who moved to Britain from Jamaica with his mother at the age of 12, was given an Ivor Novello award for his outstanding contribution to British music in 2004.

Among those paying tribute was singer Beverley Knight who said: “I am so gutted. Errol Brown was such a charismatic performer”, while DJ Dave Haslam called him a “great performer”.

Press Association