Tom Parker’s funeral: Hundreds of fans line the streets as The Wanted star is laid to rest

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Tom Parker‘s family and friends were joined by hundreds of fans for his funeral in south-east London on Wednesday. 

The Wanted star’s bandmates Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes were pictured carrying the star’s black coffin adorned with lilies into the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church in Petts Wood after the funeral procession.

Earlier, the pop singer’s widow, Kelsey, whom he married in 2018, broke down as she led a cortege featuring three black horses through Petts Wood, walking arm in arm with her parents. 

As the coffin was carried into the church the Oasis song Champagne Supernova was played. It was previously revealed that in his final moments, Tom asked to listen to the Oasis song ‘Live Forever’ along with his friends, family and fellow bandmates as he passed on. 

The Wanted bandmember died on March 30 aged 33 surrounded by his loved ones and bandmates, following a two-year battle with stage 4 glioblastoma.  

Among the mourners were Tom’s band mates Nathan Sykes, Jay McGuiness, Siva Kaneswaran, and Max George.

The four men, dressed in black suits, comforted each other as they queued up outside to enter the church. Nathan, who had his long hair tied back in a pony tail, placed his arm round Max, who wore a flat cap pulled low over his face.

A short while later One Direction’s Liam Payne, who had played at a charity gig for Stand Up to Cancer, organised by Tom in September last year, entered the church to applause from fans.

Flowers spelling out the word ‘Daddy’ from Tom’s children two children Aurelia, two, and Bodhi, one, adorned the side of the carriage while a flowered sign that spelled the word ‘Tom’ in red roses was attached to the front.

Fans dressed in black gathered along the high street and fell silent as his coffin was placed into the horse-drawn carriage.

Many people were crying as the black coffin, with a spray of lilies on top, was taken from W Uden & Sons funeral parlour to the church.

A photograph of Parker in a white rose-adorned frame was placed inside the carriage, alongside multi-coloured flowers shaped to read the word ‘daddy’, with photographs of handprints from his children, Bodhi and Aurelia.

Hundreds of fans cheered and clapped as the family, led by Parker’s widow Kelsey, walked behind the carriage to the church. 

Parker died last month at the age of 33, surrounded by his family and bandmates, 17 months after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

Family and close friends of the star gathered in The Sovereign Of The Seas pub opposite the funeral parlour before the procession began.

Outside St Francis of Assisi church, flowers spelled out the words ‘Glad You Came’, the title of The Wanted’s 2011 hit that went to number one in multiple countries.

Fans arrived wearing personalised t-shirts with the words: ‘This man was a legend a legend of his time’. 

Kevin George and Susan Potter, from Orpington, whose eldest son Daniel died in 2018 aged 22 from an astrocytoma Grade 3 brain tumour, were among those waiting outside the church ahead of the funeral of The Wanted star Tom Parker.

Asked whether Parker’s campaigning for brain tumour research in his final months had affected her, Ms Potter, who was carrying a framed picture of her son, said: ‘Of course it did, especially the BBC One interview that they did and the way he dealt with it. It was exactly how my son dealt with it – exactly.

‘In fact, at his funeral we played Bon Jovi, It’s My Life, because that kind of (message) – it’s my life, I am going to live it now, I am going to live it today.’

Mr George added: ‘It’s good. It is raising the profile as well. He has raised a lot of money for research, which is what it needs.

‘A lot of other cancers have almost been eradicated. They need to have more research into brain tumours.’ 

Super-fan Stefanie Marek, 29, had flown from Austria on Tuesday to witness the funeral procession. The IT trainee said fellow fans waiting along the procession route had shared special memories they had of Parker and The Wanted over the years.

‘I have come all the way from Austria, I came in from London Gatwick yesterday because I saw the announcement Kelsey made and I saw (Tom) in Nottingham not too long ago and I can’t believe he is gone, so I thought I might as well come out here and pay respects to him and give my condolences. 

‘They all grew really dear to me and now that Tom’s gone physically it really hit hard because you didn’t expect it to happen so soon, especially at 33 years of age.’ 

Kelsey previously said it would be ‘beautiful’ to see his devotees ‘line the route’ to the venue where his friends and family will pay tribute. 

Kelsey has also politely requested that people donate to her GoFundMe account instead of sending gifts and flowers, as she explained the proceeds would be going to causes in Tom’s name.

She wrote on Instagram: ‘I am Kelsey Parker, very proud wife of Tom Parker, probably best known for being one fifth of UK boyband The Wanted, but to those who knew him he was my husband, a Daddy, son, brother and friend.

‘As many of you know, Tom was diagnosed with a brain tumour in October 2020 and on Wednesday 30th March 2022 he passed away peacefully with all of his closest friends and family by his side.

‘Our hearts are truly broken, Tom was the centre of our world and we can’t imagine life without him, but one of the biggest sources of comfort over the last 2 years has been the outpouring of love and support we’ve all received.

‘We can’t thank everyone enough for holding Tom, myself and the children in your thoughts and prayers, for lighting candles and sharing beautiful messages of hope and condolence.’

Kelsey explained how she she desires to turn the grief into something ‘positive’ and ‘keep Tom’s memory alive forever.’

‘We want to take everyone’s incredible love, support and generosity and turn our grief into something positive and to keep Tom’s memory alive forever. We politely request that instead of gifts and flowers, donations are made to this GoFundMe account with all proceeds eventually going to amazing causes in Tom’s name, to help others in need.

‘We simply couldn’t have got through the last 2 years without the help and support we have received and if we can offer it back to others that would be the best way to honour Tom and make our two children, Aurelia and Bodhi proud,’ Kelsey said.

She signed off: ‘From the bottom of our hearts, a huge thank you. If love alone could have saved Tom, he would have lived forever…’.

To date, the fundraiser has surpassed the goal by £30,000, with donations amounting to an incredible £58,000 on the day of the funeral .

Tom ensured his young family were provided for by buying a ‘forever home’ touring and writing a memoir just months before his death from brain cancer aged 33.

While bravely sharing every stage of his cancer journey, the singer detailed how it was his number one priority to provide security to wife Kelsey and their two children Aurelia, two, and Bodhi, one, in the years to come – as he faced an uncertain future.

Speaking on Channel 4 documentary Inside My Head which aired in November, the musician revealed his new home, saying: ‘This is gonna be our forever home.

‘It’s important for me that obviously the kids and Kels have got somewhere nice to grow up.

‘I don’t know what’s going to happen with my health over the next few years, so as long as they’re alright and they’re all good here, that’s all that matters.’

‘We’re all going to grow old together here, fingers crossed.’

He added: ‘Been through tough times to be honest and I’m preparing to buy a place like this, who would have thought? I’m proud of myself.’ 

In September 2021, 11 months on from the diagnosis, Tom sang at the Stand Up 2 Cancer show at the Royal Albert Hall and even embarked on a Greatest Hits tour with his bandmates when the tumour was confirmed as ‘stable’ in November.

But a close family friend revealed that Tom’s condition deteriorated rapidly once the tour came to an end earlier this year.

‘Tom loved touring – he was an absolute rockstar and determined to join the boys on stage. He was enjoying playing two songs a night and was doing well performing but it really took it out of him,’ the source told The Sun.

‘We all noticed how quickly Tom deteriorated during the tour but he had no regrets – he really wanted to do it.’ 

A close family friend told The Sun that in his final moments, Tom asked to listen to the Oasis song ‘Live Forever’ along with his friends, family and fellow bandmates as he passed on.

The singer’s death came just one week after he revealed he was in the process of writing a tell-all memoir amid his battle with brain cancer.

In an Instagram post he said that the book, called Hope, isn’t going to be about ‘dying’ but about ‘living’ and ‘finding hope’ no matter what situation you are in.  

Throughout his adult years Tom was instantly recognisable to many teenager and young people thanks to the success of his band.

The Wanted released their first album in October 2010, which reached number four in the UK Albums Chart and created three UK top 20 singles.

Their later singles released in 2012 helped the band find success across the pond in the United States and Canada, with their hit Glad You Came becoming the highest American chart entry by a British boy band at that time.

A few years later in 2014 after the band announced a hiatus, Tom turned his attention to television, reaching the semi finals of Celebrity Masterchef in 2015 before coming in third in skiing show The Jump in 2016.

One year later, the singer went back to the stage and was cast as male lead Danny Zuko in the UK tour of Grease in 2017, which led him to postpone his wedding to Kelsey Hardwick.

The pair had planned to tie the knot in 2017 after getting engaged the year before.

Despite his successful career Tom was not met with beginner’s luck when entering the music industry – he was first rejected by X Factor judges during the first round of auditions.

Tom told The Metro in 2011 that he received all nos from the judges before he had reached the chorus of his song choice (Flying Without Wings by Westlife) which left him ‘shattered’.

Following his failed attempt to make it to X Factor, Tom assumed the persona of Mark Owen in tribute band Take That II which saw him ‘singing to 50-year-old men smoking in the corner of working mens clubs’.

His audition for The Wanted took a more positive turn despite, according to Tom, turning up to the audition looking ‘chavvy.’

Tom said to Metro: ‘I turned up wearing a tracksuit with my hood up, so I looked a bit chavvy, but played Handbags and Gladrags’ on the guitar. Maybe our manager Jane saw something in me no-one else did at the time.’

Tom and Kelsey have had two children: daughter Aurelia born in 2019 and son Bodhi, who was born after Tom’s cancer diagnosis in 2020.

The singer said: ‘The kids are the one thing to get me up in the morning, they bring that positivity out of me.’