(Photo By Flickr User Martin)

Errol Brown, the lead singer of the band Hot Chocolate, has died in the Bahamas, his manager said on Wednesday.

According to blackamericaweb.com and The Associated Press, manager Phil Dale said the singer, best known for hits It Started With A Kiss, So You Win Again, and Every 1s A Winner, died earlier Wednesday of liver cancer. Dale said Brown’s death had come as a surprise.

Dale also said,

“(Brown) had been poorly over the past few months but he never discussed it. He’d be sadly missed by his friends and family. He was an extremely good personal friend.”

Brown moved to Britain from Jamaica with his mother at age 12. In 2003, he was honored by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to pop music and made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Hot Chocolate released their first record Love is Life in 1970, and enjoyed numerous chart hits in the 1970s. In 1981, they played at a pre-wedding party for Prince Charles and Lady Diana in Buckingham Palace.

Brown is survived by his wife, Ginette, and two daughters.

Funk great and lead singer of the group Hot Chocolate, Errol Brown, dead at 71.