Reg Presley, best known as the lead singer of classic 1960s outfit The Troggs, has passed away after a battle with lung cancer.

Presley was first taken ill in Germany in 2012, and subsequently retired from music in order to focus on his treatment. Despite undergoing chemotherapy, Presley died last night at his home in Hampshire. He was 71.

Hailing from Hampshire, the Troggs enjoyed substantial success in the 1960s. 1966 single ‘Wild Thing’ remains their most iconic track, although they were also responsible for standard-in-waiting ‘Love Is All Around’, famously covered by Wet Wet Wet in the 1990s.

Other notable hits include ‘I Can’t Control Myself’ and ‘With A Girl Like You’. The band continued to tour and record throughout the following three decades, although their profile remained markedly lower than in their 1960s heyday (indeed, a series of ‘Wild Thing’ covers featuring Oliver Reed, Alex Higgins and Wolf from Gladiators in the early 1990s proved something of a late career misstep). Presely also worked as an author, publishing a guide to the paranormal called Wild Things They Don’t Tell You in 2002.