Tom Parker said he wanted to know if there is life after death in 2010 autobiography

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Tom Parker, who has died age 33 after a brain cancer battle, admitted he wanted to know what would happen after he died in The Wanted‘s 2010 autobiography.

The singer made the haunting admission in a section of The Wanted: Our Story, Our Way dedicated to the fans’ questions.

One fan of the boy band asked him: ‘If you were granted the answer to any one question in the universe, what would you ask?’

To which Tom candidly replied: ‘Is there life after death?’

In the book, he also said that his life motto was ‘live by the sword, die by the sword’.

When another fan asked him to name his idols, he said: ‘Liam Gallagher, John Lennon and The Beatles.’

His wife Kelsey said on Wednesday that Tom died two years after his brain cancer diagnosis surrounded by his family and friends while listening to Oasis hit Live Forever.

A close friend told The Sun: ‘You might have thought Tom would opt for something by The Wanted but Oasis’ Live Forever sums him up perfectly – he was a rockstar and that’s how he wants to be remembered.’

The Bolton-born singer also admitted in the book that The Wanted inspired him to make music into a career after he turned his life around at school when he started playing the guitar.

He said: ‘What I definitely did want was to play guitar. I first picked up a guitar aged 16, just before sixth form.

‘I’d started listening to the likes of Oasis, the Manics, Blur, Radiohaed and people like that… eventually I got this rubbish cheap acoustic guitar for £150, something that I really appreciate me mum and dad did for me.

‘Wonderwall was the first song I learned on guitar and to this day it’s one of my all-time favourites.’

He said his first gig at a pub called the VBQ on Blackburn Road in Bolton featured him singing Numb by Linkin Park and Jay-Z, Wonderwall and Handbags And Gladrags.

Tom – who was on Job Seekers’ Allowance when he tried out for The Wanted – added: ‘It was the best adrenalin rush ever. Even now when I get on stage that feeling never goes away. It really doesn’t.’

He said he found the group’s touring schedule gruelling with 5am starts but added that he always tried to remember his fans’ names – claiming one female follower was ‘amazed’ when he said her name on a repeat meeting. 

Before Tom joined The Wanted in 2009 and went on to score ten Top Ten singles and three Top Ten albums, he had auditioned The X Factor but did not get through. 

Tom has died age 33 following a battle with brain cancer after he was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma in October 2020, and was given just 12 months to live by doctors.

Tom’s wife Kelsey spoken of the ‘pure and honest’ love she had with her late husband in a series of heartbreaking posts shared to her Instagram page this week.

Kelsey, 32, reshared a series of emotional tributes from Tom’s friends on her social media, including a voicenote he had once sent to his friend Stephanie Elswood.

Posting the snippet of Tom’s voice complementing his friend’s dancing, she wrote: ‘This is… Tom Parker everyone… he changed so many lives in such a small amount of time. Tom Parker I f***ing love you. Such a legend. Just the fact that he would send messages like this… I mean can you imagine the messages I got.’

Kelsey also reshared a tribute from actress Michelle Keegan, who was previously engaged to Tom’s The Wanted bandmate Max George.

The post read: ‘Absolutely heartbroken for Kelsey, his beautiful babies, family and everyone who knew Tom. What a truly special guy. Such an honour to have known him and witness first hand their love. they really are the true definition of soul mates.

‘Gone far too soon, rest peacefully Tom. @beingkelsey thinking of you x’.

The mother of two responded: ‘Love you. You knew how pure our love was so pure and honest. Soul mates until the end.

In another post originally shared by the couple’s best friend Kelsey Ann who posted a picture of the three of them together, Kelsey wrote: ‘Best friends forever. Our angel boy. We never thought we would have a 3 way like it.’

The tributes to Tom continued to flood in from all around, as BBC Entertainment Correspondent Colin Paterson told the Breakfast show: ‘It’s very close to my own home because my own boys were one and three when they lost there wonderful dad George at the age of 34 from cancer.

‘So the parrallels of their story with Tom Parker’s kids is very similar, so my heart goes out to his family. When I spoke to him last year I wanted to really understand what he was going through, how he was dealing with it, and what was so impressive with how he spoke that day was how he was able to live in the present.

‘He said how he was enjoying every day, every hug with his kids. Everytime he walked out into his garden and felt the sun on the face, he would get joy from that. Also the way he was looking forward to getting on stage with his band The Wanted.

‘He managed it, two weeks ago today he was in Liverpool on a stage sat on a throne, with the crowd showing their love to him and how much he meant to them.

‘Playing in Liverpool, the final ever show with The Wanted. Right until the end he was living in the present and living out his dreams.’

Also appearing on the show was former Strictly judge Arlene Phillips, who said: ‘I first worked with him on Grease, where he has to do Born To Hand Jive, the biggest dance in the whole of the musical. He said I don’t dance. 

‘I told him, you’re going to have to. He told me he was strong and he had a fantastic partner working with him.

‘What happened, Tom who really couldn’t dance, has probably done the best Danny Cha Cha dance of anyone I have ever choregraphed for. He worked so hard and was so phenomenal.

‘He’s also so sweet and kind, during rehearsals, everyone was going across to the deli to get their lunch. Tom found a fish and chip shop, and every day he’d go and get chips with curry sauce. One day he said I’m getting you it – as I’d never had it.

‘He brought me back this soggy mess for me to eat, it was the first time someone had run out and bought lunch for me. He was a sweetheart.’ 

In September 2021, 11 months on from his 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 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.’

The tragic news of his death was confirmed by his wife Kelsey, 32, who he leaves behind along with their two children, Aurelia, two, and Bodhi, one.  

Kelsey said: ‘It is with the heaviest of hearts that we confirm 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.’

She went on to thank everyone who has cared for Tom during his illness, adding that he fought the disease until the very end.   

A statement posted on the band’s official Instagram account read: ‘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.’  

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

Tom took to Instagram last Tuesday to share the news with his fans and announce that the book would be released in July.

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.