Tom Parker's Journey With The Wanted: Hits, Brotherhood, Heartache and a "Beautifully Special" Reunion
The Wanted had high hopes for "All Time Low." But what were the odds that their first-ever single would make a big splash?
"You wouldn't believe how much we adore you all the lot, you've got us to #1 and we owe it all to you :)," Tom Parker, the oldest member of the group at 21, wrote to their fans on social media before they all headed out for a celebratory drink when their July 25, 2010, debut release did turn out to be a hit. (But alas, there was no streaking through the streets of London as they'd once vowed to do if they ever found themselves at the top of the charts).
And yet The Wanted made it look easy right out of the gate, the five lads—four British, one Irish—debuting at No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Which wasn't entirely unsurprising, since the video had come out that June and they'd spent the summer performing "All Time Low" and more of the tunes that would make up their self-titled first album, all over England.
Just a few years prior, Parker hadn't even made it out of the first round when he auditioned for The X Factor. Yet there he was, a boy from Greater Manchester made good.
Celebrity Deaths: 2022's Fallen Stars
Sadly, the life that offered him experiences he described as "beyond my wildest dreams" has ended. Parker died March 30, roughly 15 months after revealing he'd been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He was 33.
Only two days ago, he posted a photo of The Wanted all together, captioned, "Dream Team."
Still undergoing treatment in Spain, Parker was unable to join Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes when they kicked off their much-anticipated March U.K. tour, the lasting image of only four onstage not what they had planned. In Bournemouth on March 7, Sykes acknowledged the "massive space" created by his absence. "We love Tom as much as you do," he said. "In fact we'll be big-headed and say that we love him slightly more, which is a lot. We can't wait to have him back which will be very soon. He sees all your messages and everything."
So when Parker turned up toward the end of the show, sitting in an elegant chair, fans were ecstatic. He stayed on the road, going to Wales, Nottingham and more, unable to go through more than a couple of songs a night, but obviously glad he came.
"Thank you to every single one of you who came to see us this past couple of weeks, we have had so much fun and made some more magical memories," the group posted March 18 after their final show in Liverpool. "This man was a legend, a legend of his time @tomparkerofficial."
Sharing the news of his condition in October 2020, Parker allowed that he was "absolutely devastated" by the diagnosis, but vowed to fight for his life. He had married his longtime sweetheart, Kelsey Hardwick, in 2018, the couple having weathered any bumps in the road caused by Parker's boyband fame. They had also just welcomed a daughter, Aurelia Rose Parker, in June 2019, and son Bodhi Thomas Parker arrived barely two weeks after the couple opened up about Parker's health crisis.
Kelsey was the one to announce her husband's death March 30, writing that "Tom passed away peacefully earlier today with all of his family by his side. Our hearts are broken, Tom was the centre of our world and we can't imagine life without his infectious smile and energetic presence. We are truly thankful for the outpouring of love and support and ask that we all unite to ensure Tom's light continues to shine for his beautiful children. Thank you to everyone who has supported in his care throughout, he fought until the very end. I'm forever proud of you."
A statement on The Wanted's Instagram read, "Max, Jay, Siva, Nathan and the whole Wanted family are devastated by the tragic and premature loss of our bandmate Tom Parker, who passed away peacefully at lunchtime today surrounded by his family and his band mates. Tom was an amazing husband to Kelsey, and father to Aurelia and Bodhi. He was our brother, words can't express the loss and sadness we feel. Always and forever in our hearts."
Barely four years after dominating the charts with "All Time Low," which was followed by their signature hit "Glad You Came," two more albums, touring the world and starring on their own E! series, The Wanted Life, the group announced a hiatus in 2014. They insisted they were still technically together but wanted to pursue individual projects for the time being.
But that, ultimately, was that.
"I cried for a good couple of days," Parker recalled to the Manchester Evening News in 2017. "It was horrible, when that is all you've known for 10 years, you're so engrossed by it, it's all you know. I remember sitting there for at least two months thinking, What the hell am I going to do next?"
Parker's post-band pursuits ranged from producing music and honing his skills as a DJ to competing on MasterChef UK Celebrities. But he never entirely closed the book on The Wanted chapter of his life.
Announcing his deejaying duo Lost + Found with ?JM on Dec. 31, 2019, he reflected on the whirlwind journey that had led him to that moment.
"A whole god damn decade!! It feels like it's ran away," he wrote on Instagram. "So much has happened. Things beyond my wildest dreams. Met 4 amazing fellas and spent the first half of the decade seeing the 4 corners of the world. Met my lovely girl who I now call my wife. We gave birth to our incredible daughter Aurelia. I didn't think it was possible to love more than I already did until she came along!! And now going in to this new decade, I've finally discovered my true self and where I belong. Music is my life. It's where I belong. So here's to @itslostandfound and this new venture."
In a tribute to Parker, ?JM (real name Ollie Marland) posted in a message to his fallen mate that he had been "one of the most influential and best people in my life, without you I wouldn't have got back into music after giving up and feeling at rock bottom...you really have made such an impact on my life and a mark that will stay with me forever."
Parker maintained a good attitude about embracing new opportunities, such as acting. "It's genuinely terrifying," he told the Manchester Evening News in 2017 when he was preparing to star in a production of Grease, "the fear of the unknown even though I've played in front of live audiences, to much bigger audiences, but I think you're never able to control that anticipation, those nerves. But I genuinely can't wait to get out on stage." But it was pretty apparent that he held his time with The Wanted in special esteem.
Saying George, Kaneswaran, McGuiness and Sykes were still "like brothers" to him, he told the publication that he hoped they'd make music again together one day.
The Best Boy Bands & Girl Groups of All Time
"I feel like it was premature," he said, referring to the group's split. "I feel like people wanted us to go on longer, and It was definitely a shock for us. We made the call at the time, but the label said, 'Do you want to carry on with this?' We did, but when you feel like there isn't as much momentum upwards anymore, you know, One Direction came along and they were pulling in that teen market. We weren't hitting that 10-to-18-year-old market like we did when we started, so I think it was the right decision at the time, but it was very tough."
Parker added, "We're all still really close and friendly and I think there will be a time when we get back together, I would love that. I'm a huge fan of the band."
In a bittersweet twist of fate, it was the fight for his life that brought the guys all back together, George, Kaneswaran, McGuiness and Sykes joining Parker at a Stand Up To Cancer benefit at Royal Albert Hall last September.
"Obviously we were all there to jump to his support," George told E! News in an October Zoom interview with all five members of The Wanted, "and then we kind of started talking to each other as a group after that."
Parker admitted that he feared he'd "break down and have a meltdown, but the boys just comforted me," he said. "It was just an emotional night all around, even for the whole day and stuff. And just walking into the venue—we had never played the Royal Albert Hall before, when we played all around the world."
He added, "There's just something beautifully special about it." The experience was documented in the Channel 4 special Tom Parker: Inside My Head, which premiered in the U.K. Oct. 10.
One thing led to another and The Wanted were back in the studio, releasing what turned out to be the final piece of new music featuring Parker, the single "Rule the World." Most Wanted: The Greatest Hits dropped in November.
And when Parker said he was going to fight, he meant every word.
"What do I want from the future? More time with my kids. More time with my wife. More time with life," Parker said in Inside My Head. "And I feel like that's going to happen. I've got that positive outlook on life. And I think when you take strength and courage from other people around you, that really helps."
He also stoically noted in the documentary, "Maybe I was put here for a reason and that reason to me is in terms of glioblastoma," he said in the documentary. "I would love to raise more awareness about it. I think the next six months, whatever happens to me, if it can have a positive effect on the treatment of glioblastoma, then that's a good thing, right?"
In September he said during an in-person appearance on the U.K.'s This Morning, his wife by his side, that he had gone from receiving his medication every two weeks to every three weeks because he was "responding so well" to chemotherapy and radiation.
"I wouldn't have been able to do this five months ago, let's put it that way," Parker said of being able to give a TV interview. "I feel a lot more confident and a lot more in control of my emotions. 'Cause if we had done this five months ago, I would've been a crying mess, to be honest. [I'm feeling] very positive."
On Nov. 3, he posted that he had tears in his eyes because his tumor was "under control." He'd just received his latest scan results and, he shared, "I'm delighted to say it is STABLE. Such a mix of emotions. We couldn't ask for any more really at this point; a year or so in to this journey. Honestly over the moon. We can sleep a little easier tonight."
And when E! talked to The Wanted last fall, Parker was inspiringly upbeat, sharing how much he cherished his time with The Wanted and how proud he was of what they had accomplished.
"It took us around the world and it was chaos—but it was beautifully chaotic," he reflected. "But then, by the end of it, it got a little grating on all of us, it was quite physically and emotionally demanding. And just that time away has given the perspective to go, 'You know what? What we created was beautiful.'"
