Lynden David Hall

Singer Lynden David Hall vaulted to the forefront of Britain's nu-soul movement with his 1998 hit "Sexy Cinderella." Born in London on May 7, 1974, Hall discovered classic soul music as a teen after he was expelled from school from fighting and sent to live with his record-collector father — he soon taught himself to play guitar, and in time began composing his own songs, recording his first demo sessions while attending the British School for Performing Arts in Croydon. Through veteran manager Tony Hall (no relation), Hall's demos landed on the desk of BBC Radio 1 DJ Trevor Nelson, who signed the singer to EMI's fledgling urban subsidiary Cooltempo; Hall's debut LP Medicine 4 My Pain followed in the autumn of 1997, earning critical raves but selling poorly until a remixed "Sexy Cinderella" cracked the U.K. Top 20 the following year. The album went on to sell in excess of 100,000 copies and earned Hall the Mobo Award for Best Newcomer of 1998, but the 2000 follow-up The Other Side fared badly at retail, and his contract was terminated shortly thereafter as EMI reshuffled its roster. In 2003, Hall appeared in the romantic comedy Love Actually as a wedding singer, and two years later resurfaced with a third LP, In Between Jobs, on the independent label Random. By the time of its release Hall was fighting Hodgkin's lymphoma, however, and the disease claimed his life on February 14, 2006; at the time of his death, he was just 31-years-old.