HOT CHOCOLATE lead singer ERROL BROWN has died aged 71, his manager has said. BROWN had liver cancer and died at his home in the Bahamas, said Phil Dale.

HOT CHOCOLATE had hits in more than 50 countries worldwide, including You Sexy Thing - which BROWN co-wrote - It Started with a Kiss and Every 1's a Winner.

BROWN was made an MBE by the Queen in 2003 and received an Ivor Novello award for his outstanding contribution to British music in 2004.

You Sexy Thing, HOT CHOCOLATE's best-known hit and a top 10 single in the 1970s and '80s, charted again in the UK when it was featured in The Full Monty in 1997.

BROWN was born in Jamaica but moved to the UK with his mother when he was 12. His musical career began in 1969 when he and some friends sent their own reggae version of Give Peace a Chance to its writer John Lennon.