Chocolate-voiced Errol in farewell tour

Errol Brown, the smooth-voiced frontman of UK soul band Hot Chocolate, is going on the road for the last time. Mark Andrews chatted to him before his solo tour starts in February.

Through the 70s, 80s and 90s, Errol Brown seemed to be everywhere, his syrup-smooth voice and his energetic swagger meaning he was never far away from chart success.

Now, 40 years after the creation of Hot Chocolate, Brown is calling time on his music career - and his last ever concert will be at Birmingham's Symphony Hall on February 26.

The shaven-headed singer, who recently turned 60, says it is no accident that his last performance will be in the Midlands.

"I wanted to finish in one of the places that had been most popular with Hot Chocolate over the years, and we spent a lot of time in Birmingham in our early days, playing around the local small clubs.

"In those days we developed a few friendships, and we had a few girlfriends in the area," he says fondly.

"Whenever we played in the Midlands there was such a good vibe, when you go on stage in Birmingham, you know it's going to be a party."

In fact, it will be Brown's first tour in some years - the last time he came to the Midlands was nearly 10 years ago, when he performed at both Symphony Hall and Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.

"Around three or four years ago, I said to all my friends I wasn't going on tour gain, I thought I had done my last performance," says Errol, who now lives in Barbados with Ginette, his wife of 30 years.

"But I thought about it, all those years I have had so much support and love from the British people, and decided that I should do a farewell tour to say thank you."

While many artists retire from touring so they can spend more time in the recording studio, Errol insists this is not the case, and this really will be the last we hear from him.

So what is it that has made him finally decide to hang up his microphone? He sounds flattered, and slightly surprised at my suggestion it might be that he wants to quit while he is still reasonably youthful.

"Hey, I am 60, you know," he says. "I just feel I have done my travelling, and I find as you get older, you find it harder going from hotel to hotel. I live in a beautiful place now, and I have a very nice life with my family."

It is not the first time Brown has decided to put family life before his musical career, giving similar reasons when he quit Hot Chocolate in 1985. At the time, the band was riding on the crest of a wave, having been the only band in Britain to notch up hits in 15 consecutive years.

"I felt burnt out, and I had gone as far as I could with that band," he says. "I wanted to spend more time with my family as well."

He returned as a solo performer, with successful UK tours in 1990 and 1993, but by the mid-1990s he was starting to fade from the music scene - until a movie success propelled him back into the spotlight.

The scene from The Full Monty, where Robert Carlyle's character Gaz starts dancing to Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing, became one of the most memorable moments from the 1997 film - and saw the track, originally released in 1975, hit No 6 in the UK charts, making it the only record to reach the Top 10 in the 70s, 80s and 90s.

"That was amazing. I didn't expect that at all," he says. "When I came to England I went with a couple of friends to see it, and I thought 'this is fantastic'."

After 40 years in showbusiness, Brown admits his last performance will be an emotional experience.

"I will wipe a tear from my eye," he says. "When something has brought you so much in life, you wouldn't expect anything else. There are not many people who can look back on such a wonderful time as I have had."

* Errol Brown is at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, on February 26. Call the ticket hotline 0121 780 3333.