Eighties dance music sensation Colonel Abrams has died a year after it was revealed he was living homeless on the streets of New York.
The 67-year-old is most famous for his 1985 track Trapped which was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
The catchy number topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart and came in at number three in the UK Singles Chart.
His death was announced on Facebook by friend DJ Tony 'Tune' Herbert who said he died on Thursday November 24.
He wrote: 'Just got word that Colonel Abrams has past away on Thanksgiving, one year to the date that I along with... 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!!!'
The singer was found to be living on the streets of the Big Apple last year and was suffering from diabetes.
With no health insurance or home DJ Don Welch set up a GoFundMe page to encourage fans to send him money to help.
He posted: “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.
US HOUSE singer Colonel Abrams has died aged 67 – a year to the day it emerged he was living homeless on the streets of New York.
The star, best known in the UK for his 1985 hit Trapped, which reached number 3 in the charts, sparked concern last year when it was discovered he was sleeping rough and didn’t have access to his diabetes medicine.
“Now he is at peace and our condolences go out to his family, and fans world wide, he is no longer suffering or Trapped!!!”
Colonel – his real name – was born in Detroit but moved to New York where he was inspired by the city’s street rhythms.
He previously explained: “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.”
A statement on the site read: 'The Colonel is very ill with no permanent place of his own to live at this time and limited financial resources. Those of us who have listened to his awesome music and know of his plight, have banned together to try and help him through this rough patch.
'If the Colonel was healthier today, trust and believe he could still be making money on stage performing his greatest hits, but unfortunately his current health issues hinders him from doing so.'
Around the same time house music pioneer Marshall Jefferson launched a campaign to crowdfund his next album.
Colonel Abrams, which was his real name, was born in born in Detroit, the home of Motown, in 1949.
He said he was influenced by both Motown and street music he discovered in New York when he moved to the city with his family in his youth.
Abrams formed the band Conservative Manor with his brother Morris in the late 1960s before becoming the lead singer of the group 94 East in 1976.
Via - The Sun
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