The Wanted on Wednesday released a special version of their 2011 song “Gold Forever” in honour of group mate Tom Parker, who died on March 30.
Available to download and stream, “Gold Forever (For Tom)” features Parker’s vocals more prominently than on the original version. It was played at his memorial and shared in an emotional tribute to Parker on YouTube.
The Wanted will donate net proceeds from the single to UK-based The Brain Tumour Charity.
In October 2020, Parker went public with news that he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. "We are all absolutely devastated but we are gonna fight this all the way,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the time.“It’s gonna be a tough battle but with everyone’s love and support we are going to beat this.”
Parker, who had stage four glioblastoma, vowed: “I’m going to be here. I'm going to fight this.”
The surviving members of The Wanted served as pallbearers at Parker’s funeral last week.
The Wanted enjoyed a string of top five singles in the UK, including two number ones, and their 2011 track "Glad You Came" made it to No. 2 in Canada. They split up in 2014 but reunited last year for a charity concert and to promote a greatest hits collection. The group was performing again this year.