Entertainment- Tom Parker of The Wanted died Wednesday, the band announced.
- Parker first announced he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in October 2020.
Tom Parker of the boy band The Wanted has died at 33 years old, less than two years after being diagnosed with brain cancer, the band announced Wednesday.
"Max, Jay, Siva, Nathan and the whole Wanted family are devastated by the tragic and premature loss of our bandmate Tom Parker, who passed away peacefully at lunchtime today surrounded by his family and his band mates," The Wanted announced on Instagram.
"Tom was an amazing husband to Kelsey, and father to Aurelia and Bodhi," the band said. "He was our brother, words can't express the loss and sadness we feel. Always and forever in our hearts."
Parker first announced he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor in October 2020. In December 2020, he described it as "stage 4."
He told OK! magazine in 2020 that the diagnosis was grade IV glioblastoma, which is an advanced cancer, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
His wife, Kelsey Parker, said on Instagram that Parker "was the centre of our world" and thanked fans for the "outpouring of love and support" following his
She also thanked those who supported Parker during his illness. She said "he fought until the very end."
The Wanted rose to international fame when their hit single, "Glad You Came," topped the charts in Ireland and the UK.
It hit No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 in the US in 2012 and was the highest-charted single from a British boy band in the US at the time, only to be later topped by One Direction's "Best Song Ever."