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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Connie Rusk & Phoebe Jobling

The Wanted's Tom Parker too weak to sing in heartbreaking footage of final performance two weeks ago

Heartbreaking footage has been released of Tom Parker's final ever performance with The Wanted. The singer, who tragically passed away aged 33 on March 30, joined his bandmates on stage in Liverpool on March 17 for what was unbeknownst to be the last time before his devastating death.

Despite battling a brain tumour, Tom delighted The Wanted fans by appearing alongside the band in Liverpool two weeks ago during their Greatest Hits tour, where the band reunited after a seven year touring hiatus.

During the group's performance of hit songs Glad You Came and Gold Forever at the M&S Bank Arena, Tom sat on a throne on a raised platform. As his illness meant he was too weak to sing to the audience, his bandmates rallied around him with Siva Kaneswaran, 33, picking up his vocals while Nathan Sykes, 28, never left his side and filmed what would be their last moment together on stage.

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Determined to join the boys for their Most Wanted: The Greatest Hits tour, a frail Tom could be seen mouthing to some of the words of Gold Forever and looked emotional as he pointed his microphone to the audience who sung the lyrics back to him, as can be seen in footage from The Mirror.

While Nathan and Siva stuck by the singer's side for Gold Forever, Max George and Jay McGuinness headed off the platform and to the main stage to hype up the crowd.

Max and Jay later joined Tom and sung Glad You Came to him, which had the poignant lyrics: "The sun goes down, the stars come out. And all that counts is here and now. My universe will never be the same. I'm glad you came".

The band supported Tom by wearing sunglasses, with the singer choosing to wear shades after his eye was forced shut due to his grade 4 brain tumour. Tom was showered with love and support from his biggest fans - adoring wife Kelsey and their children Aurelia, two and Bodhi, one, who were there to cheer him on in audience.

The Wanted pictured together in 2013 (Getty Images for PCA)

The video of Tom's final performance was shared on YouTube and fans took to the comment section to commend Tom for his bravery and strength, despite his deteriorating health.

One wrote: "Seeing this is so heartbreaking. Seeing him so sick is horrible. At least he’s not in pain anymore. But I’m so sad that he’s gone".

Another fan added: "What a warrior Tom was to be on stage with his fellow bandmates here despite his deteriorating health. Lovely to see Siva and Nathan stick by him as well whilst Max and Jay hype it up with the crowd at the front."

A third said: "It was hard for Max to get through this. You can really see the brotherhood. Tom must have been a really good man for the world to be hurting by his loss. RIP Tom."

The singer, who was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma in 2020, was forced to pull out of The Wanted's first series of gigs after he was too weak to walk. He then travelled to Spain to receive revolutionary treatment at a private hospital on the Costa del Sol.

The Wanted's Tom Parker with bandmate Max George (Instagram)

After flying back to England, Tom joined his band on the tour, supporting them from backstage as well as making brief appearances on stage. Max called him a "hero" at what unbeknown to them at the time, was Tom's last show.

Sharing a black and white snap of them both, Max wrote: “It’s been an epic few weeks…One last show my boy…You are a true hero mate. Can’t wait for the next tour with you…Liverpool… Can you hear us???!”

In another post he shared a photo of the boys sat around Tom as he sat on the throne with a huge smile on his face.

"We did it. @tomparkerofficial .. YOU did it! All I can say in words is thank you for making such beautiful memories over the last few weeks.

"I love every single one of you who stuck with us. May our hearts be full, like our drinks tonight, may we sing and dance til’ we lose our minds, we are only young if we seize the night, tonight we own the night."

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