Chas Hodges' family confirm his cause of death

From Digital Spy

Update: Chas Hodges' family and loved ones have thanked fans for their support, and also issued a statement confirming his cause of death.

The musician, one half of duo Chas and Dave, died on Saturday, September 22.

"Chas's wife Joan, his children and Dave have been overwhelmed by the many thousands of messages of love and support and would like to thank everyone for those," a family statement read.

"For the record, we would like to clarify that Chas did not die of cancer. The doctor's final diagnostic was pneumonia and the cancer was under control at the time of death.

"We feel this is important to state as Chas wanted to bring comfort and hope to people suffering with cancer through his own experience with the disease, and it would mean a lot to him that the hope remains."

Original story: Chas Hodges, one half of pop rock duo Chas and Dave, has died at the age of 74, it's been confirmed.

The sad news was posted on the Chas and Dave official Twitter account, which shared a statement confirming that Chas passed away from organ failure in the early hours of Saturday morning (September 22).

"It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the passing of our very own Chas Hodges," the statement read.

"Despite receiving successful treatment for oesophageal cancer recently, Chas suffered organ failure and passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of this morning."

In a Facebook post, the statement also added: "We would like to thank our fans for their fantastic support and goodwill at this difficult time."

Chas and Dave first formed in the 1970s and became synonymous with the music style rockney - mixing rock and cockney. They are perhaps best known for their songs 'Rabbit' and 'Gertcha'.

Chas shared his cancer diagnosis with fans back in February 2017, which was described to be in the early stages, with the duo rescheduling gigs so that he could undergo treatment immediately.

Last month, Chas and Dave also announced that they were cancelling all of their forthcoming shows due to Chas' "extreme illness".

"In my life as a musician/entertainer I would say the most depressing thing to have to do is to have to cancel a gig or gigs," Chas said in a statement at the time.

"Fortunately, throughout my career of thousands of gigs with Dave or in other bands these times have been very few & far between, and only extreme illness in the past (and I mean extreme) illness has prompted me/us to have to make this decision."

Following the news, several celebrities and bands paid tribute to the musician on social media, including actor John Challis, comedian Rob Beckett and Chas' favourite football club Tottenham Hotspur.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

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