Hot Chocolate are a British soul band formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1984.

Their hits include "You Sexy Thing", a UK number two which also made the top 10 in three decades, reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number five in Canada, and also featured in the film The Full Monty (1997); "So You Win Again", which topped the UK Charts; "Every 1's a Winner" which reached number five in Canada and number six in the US; "It Started with a Kiss", which reached the UK top five, and "Emma", which charted at number three in the UK, number five in Canada, and number 8 in the US. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

Beginnings

Formed in 1968, the band initially consisted of lead vocalist Errol Brown, bassist Tony Wilson, percussionist Patrick Olive, guitarist Franklyn De Allie, and drummer Jim King (shortly thereafter replaced by the unrelated Ian King). with keyboardist Larry Ferguson joining the band in the following year. The band was originally named Hot Chocolate Band by Mavis Smith, who worked for the Apple Corps press office. This was quickly amended, first to The Hot Chocolate and then to Hot Chocolate, by Mickie Most. By 1970, the band's line-up had changed again to include Harvey Hinsley and Tony Connor (who was also a member of Audience at the time) replacing De Allie and King respectively. The band eventually had at least one hit, every year, between 1970 and 1984. "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's a Winner". Liebrand also made a combination remix of those two hits called "Two in a Bed" for the exclusive Disco Mix Club.

Later years

Renewed interest in Hot Chocolate came in part with the band's appearances on a string of successful film soundtracks, starting with the 1997 comedy The Full Monty, as well as in a 1989 Clearasil acne lotion commercial (featuring a young Patsy Palmer). From the late 1980s onwards, the group experienced a resurgence of credibility: Urge Overkill, PJ Harvey and the Sisters of Mercy all added Hot Chocolate songs to their live sets, and Cud's cover of "You Sexy Thing" featured in John Peel's Festive 50 in 1987.

Errol Brown and Larry Ferguson departed the band in 1986, ultimately leading the group to disband. Brown then began a solo career. Two of his singles made the UK Singles Chart – "Personal Touch" and "Body Rockin'". Hot Chocolate had a hit in 1988 in Germany. "Never Pretend" was written by Harvey Hinsley and Susan Stuttard, and the vocalist was Grant Evelyn. The band's enduring popularity was verified when two compilation albums both reached No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart (see below). In 2003, Errol Brown received the MBE; and in 2004, the Ivor Novello Award for his contribution to British music.

In 1992, the band reformed with new vocalist Greg Bannis and keyboardists Steve Ansell, Andy Smith, Willy Dowling, and Steve Matthews (the latter two of whom departed the band in 1994), and manager and agent Ric Martin took control over the band's bookings and live appearances. Kennie Simon took over lead vocals in 2010 following the departure of Bannis and Hot Chocolate continue to make live appearances in the UK and Europe.

thumb|Errol Brown performing on stage in 1998

On 6 May 2015, original frontman and principal songwriter Errol Brown died from liver cancer. He was 71.

Original guitarist Franklyn Delano De Allie (born 21 January 1944, St. Marks Parish, Grenada, West Indies) later became a police officer, and died in Warwick, Bermuda on 30 December 2018.

Keyboardist Steve Matthews died on 29 August 2025.

Personnel

Members

Principal members of the band that played on most hit records are Errol Brown, Tony Wilson, Patrick Olive, Larry Ferguson, Harvey Hinsley, and Tony Connor.

;Current members

  • Patrick Olive – percussion <small>(1968–1975)</small>, bass <small>(1975–1984, 1988, 1992–present)</small>
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion <small>(1970–1986, 1988, 1992–present)</small>
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars <small>(1970–1986, 1988, 1992–present)</small>
  • Steve Ansell – keyboards, guitars <small>(1994–present)</small>
  • Andy Smith – keyboards <small>(1994–present)</small>
  • Kennie Simon – lead vocals, keyboards <small>(2010–present)</small>

;Former members

  • Errol Brown – lead vocals <small>(1968–1986; died 2015)</small>
  • Tony Wilson – bass, lead & backing vocals <small>(1968–1975; died 2026)</small>
  • Franklyn De Allie – guitars <small>(1968–1970; died 2018)</small>
  • Jim King – drums, percussion <small>(1968–1969)</small>
  • Ian King – drums, percussion <small>(1969–1970)</small>
  • Larry Ferguson – keyboards <small>(1969–1986)</small>
  • Derek Lewis – percussion, backing vocals <small>(1975)</small>
  • Brian Satterwhite – bass, backing vocals <small>(1975)</small>
  • Rick Green – keyboards <small>(1975)</small>
  • Chris Cameron – keyboards, backing vocals <small>(1982–1985)</small>
  • Grant Evelyn – lead vocals <small>(1988)</small>
  • Greg Bannis – lead vocals <small>(1992–2010)</small>
  • Willy Dowling – keyboards, backing vocals <small>(1992–1994)</small>
  • Steve Matthews – keyboards, backing vocals <small>(1992–1994; died 2025)</small>

Line-ups

{| class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="float:width:375px; margin:0 0 1em 1em; border-collapse:collapse; border:1px solid #e2e2e2; width:99%;"

|-

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1968–1969

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1969–1970

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1970–1975

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1975

|-

| valign=top |

  • Errol Brown – lead vocals
  • Tony Wilson – bass, vocals
  • Patrick Olive – percussion
  • Franklyn De Allie – guitars
  • Jim King – drums, percussion

| valign=top |

  • Errol Brown – lead vocals
  • Tony Wilson – bass, vocals
  • Patrick Olive – percussion
  • Franklyn De Allie – guitars
  • Larry Ferguson – keyboards
  • Ian King – drums, percussion

| valign=top |

  • Errol Brown – lead vocals
  • Tony Wilson – bass, lead vocals
  • Patrick Olive – percussion
  • Larry Ferguson – keyboards
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars

| valign=top |

  • Errol Brown – lead vocals
  • Patrick Olive – percussion
  • Larry Ferguson – keyboards
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars
  • Brian Satterwhite – bass, backing vocals
  • Derek Lewis – percussion, backing vocals

|-

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1975–1986

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1986–1988

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1988

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1988–1992

|-

| valign=top |

  • Errol Brown – lead vocals
  • Patrick Olive – bass
  • Larry Ferguson – keyboards
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars

| valign=top |

Disbanded

| valign=top |

  • Patrick Olive – bass
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars
  • Grant Evelyn – lead vocals

| valign=top |

Disbanded

|-

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1992–1994

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 1994–2010

! style="vertical-align:top; background:#e7ebee; width:25%;"| 2010–present

|-

| valign=top |

  • Patrick Olive – bass
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars
  • Greg Bannis – lead vocals
  • Willie Dowling – keyboards, backing vocals
  • Steve Matthews – keyboards, backing vocals

| valign=top |

  • Patrick Olive – bass
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars
  • Steve Ansell – keyboards, guitars
  • Greg Bannis – lead vocals
  • Andy Smith – keyboards

| valign=top |

  • Patrick Olive – bass
  • Tony Connor – drums, percussion
  • Harvey Hinsley – guitars
  • Steve Ansell – keyboards, guitars
  • Andy Smith – keyboards
  • Kennie Simon – lead vocals, keyboards

|}

Timeline

<timeline>

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20

PlotArea = left:90 bottom:80 top:0 right:20

Alignbars = justify

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/01/1968 till:03/06/2025

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1968

Colors =

id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals

id:Bvocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals

id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar

id:Piano value:purple legend:Keyboards

id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass

id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums

id:Perc value:claret legend:Percussion

id:Albums value:black legend:Studio_release

id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

BarData =

bar:Errol text:Errol Brown

bar:Grant text:Grant Evelyn

bar:Greg text:Greg Bannis

bar:Kennie text:Kennie Simon

bar:Franklyn text:Franklyn De Allie

bar:Harvey text:Harvey Hinsley

bar:Larry text:Larry Ferguson

bar:Willie text:Willie Dowling

bar:Steve2 text:Steve Matthews

bar:Steve text:Steve Ansell

bar:Andy text:Andy Smith

bar:Tony text:Tony Wilson

bar:Brian text:Brian Satterwhite

bar:Jim text:Jim King

bar:Ian text:Ian King

bar:Tony2 text:Tony Connor

bar:Patrick text:Patrick Olive

bar:Derek text:Derek Lewis

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)

bar:Errol from:start till:01/01/1986 color:vocals

bar:Grant from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:vocals

bar:Greg from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2010 color:vocals

bar:Kennie from:01/01/2010 till:end color:vocals

bar:Kennie from:01/01/2010 till:end color:piano width:3

bar:Franklyn from:start till:01/01/1970 color:guitar

bar:Harvey from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:guitar

bar:Harvey from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:guitar

bar:Harvey from:01/01/1992 till:end color:guitar

bar:Larry from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1986 color:piano

bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:end color:piano

bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:end color:guitar width:3

bar:Andy from:01/01/1994 till:end color:piano

bar:Willie from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:piano

bar:Willie from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:bvocals width:3

bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:piano

bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:bvocals width:3

bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1975 color:bass

bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1975 color:vocals width:3

bar:Brian from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bass

bar:Brian from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bvocals width:3

bar:Patrick from:start till:01/07/1975 color:perc

bar:Patrick from:01/07/1975 till:01/01/1986 color:bass

bar:Patrick from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:bass

bar:Patrick from:01/01/1992 till:end color:bass

bar:Derek from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:perc

bar:Derek from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bvocals width:3

bar:Jim from:start till:01/01/1969 color:drums

bar:Jim from:start till:01/01/1969 color:perc width:4

bar:Ian from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1970 color:drums

bar:Ian from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1970 color:perc width:3

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:drums

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:perc width:3

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:drums

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:perc width:3

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:piano width:7

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1992 till:end color:drums

bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1992 till:end color:perc width:3

LineData =

at:01/06/1974 color:black layer:back

at:01/11/1975 color:black layer:back

at:01/08/1976 color:black layer:back

at:01/04/1978 color:black layer:back

at:01/06/1979 color:black layer:back

at:01/06/1980 color:black layer:back

at:01/09/1982 color:black layer:back

at:01/10/1983 color:black layer:back

at:01/06/1993 color:black layer:back

</timeline>

Discography

  • Cicero Park (1974)
  • Hot Chocolate (1975)
  • Man to Man (1976)
  • Every 1's a Winner (1978)
  • Going Through the Motions (1979)
  • Class (1980)
  • Mystery (1982)
  • Love Shot (1983)
  • Strictly Dance (1993)

References

  • Errol Brown's site
  • Hot Chocolate's site
  • Errol Brown interview by Pete Lewis, Blues & Soul February 2009
  • The Complete Apple Records
  • Hot Chocolate on Discogs.com