Terry Hall (born Terence Edward Hall, 19 March 1959, Coventry, England) is the lead singer of The Specials, and formerly of Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka and Vegas. He has released two solo albums and has also collaborated with many artists including David A. Stewart, Bananarama, The Lightning Seeds, Sinéad O'Connor, Stephen Duffy, Dub Pistols, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, Tricky, Junkie XL, Leila Arab, Lily Allen, Shakespears Sister and Nouvelle Vague. Born and raised in Coventry, England, Hall left school before his fifteenth birthday, taking various short-term jobs - bricklayer and apprentice hairdresser among them. He became an active member of the burgeoning Coventry music scene of the late 1970s, playing in a local punk band called Squad and being credited as a composer on their "Red Alert" single. Hall has stated that one of his grandfathers was a Jewish watchmaker from Germany. As the frontman for The Specials, Hall first came to prominence in the UK in 1979 when BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel played their debut single "Gangsters" on his show.