A sad but sunny day for his send-off.
Fans of the late The Wanted singer Tom Parker lined the streets this morning as his funeral procession passed by.
The 33-year-old, who passed away last month from an inoperable brain tumour, is being laid to rest in London today.
In an Instagram post last week, Tom’s wife Kelsey invited fans to line the procession route in Petts Wood and to watch a private service on screens outside the church.
“We know many of you would like to pay your respects as well, so would love for you to join us,” she wrote at the time.
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It seems the invitation was well-received, as fans turned out in droves this morning.
A carriage pulled by three black horses featured flower displays spelling out “Tom” and “Daddy”. Another flower arrangement at the door of the church read “Glad You Came”, the title of The Wanted’s 2011 hit that went number one in several countries.
According to the Mirror, the programme stated the Bolton-born star would be laid to rest to ‘Live Forever’ by Oasis – the same song he was listening to when he died.
Tom was first diagnosed with the terminal tumour in 2020 and was given 12-18 months to live after doctors told him it was inoperable.
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He openly spoke about his diagnosis in order to raise awareness and push for more funding for brain cancer research, which currently only receives around 1% of funding in the UK.
“That’s the bad part of it. If you’ve not got money, you’ve not got the best healthcare. That’s sad,” the singer told the Sun last year. “More and more young people are experiencing this disease, you know, and that’s an issue that needs looking at. This affects a lot of young people.”
Tom died peacefully at the age of 33 on Wednesday, March 30 with his family and friends at his side. He is survived by Kelsey, 32, and their two kids, daughter Aurelia and son Bodhi.
