American singer Colonel Abrams has died at the age of 67, it has been announced. The former pop star, whose 1985 hit Trapped reached number three in the UK charts, was living homeless on the streets of New York.
His death was announced on Facebook by friend DJ Tony "Tune" Herbert, who said: "Just got word that Colonel Abrams has past away on Thanksgiving, one year to the date that I… and a host of his biggest fans fought to get him to let us help him. Now he is at peace and our condolences go out to his family, and fans world wide, he is no longer suffering or Trapped!!!" [sic]
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American singer Colonel Abrams has died at the age of 67
The singer was born in Detroit, the home of Motown. He then moved to New York city with his family and became well-known in the underground music scene. He previously said: "I studied all the people on Motown, and I studied the music and listened to the lyrics Smokey Robinson used to write, and just craved the opportunity to be on Motown. But after my family moved to New York, I studied street music, and I sort of combined them both: The Detroit sound and the street sounds of New York."
The singer was best known for his 1985 hit Trapped, which reached number three in the UK charts
Last year it was revealed that Colonel had been sleeping rough, which prompted DJ Tony and DJ Marshall Jefferson to launch a crowdfunding campaign. "The Colonel is very ill with no permanent place of his own to live at this time and limited financial resources," they said at the time. "Those of us who have listened to his awesome music and know of his plight, have banded together to try and help him through this rough patch."