Troggs Frontman Retires After Cancer Diagnosis

troggs 2010

Christie Goodwin/Getty Images

Reg Presley, frontman for the British Invasion band the Troggs, has announced that he will retire from show business after being diagnosed with lung cancer. According to a message to fans on the band's official site, the 70-year-old rocker was diagnosed after feeling ill at a concert in Germany in December.

"I am receiving chemotherapy treatment and at the moment not feeling too bad," Presley said in a statement. "However I've had to call time on the Troggs and retire. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the cards and calls and for your love, loyalty and support over the years."

Photos: Random Notes
The Troggs were best known for their cover of the Wild Ones tune "Wild Thing" and their original, "Love Is All Around," which was later covered by R.E.M. and the British boy band Wet Wet Wet.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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