Ben Thapa, who rose to fame on The X Factor as part of the band G4, has died at the age of 42.

News of his passing was shared online by his fellow G4 bandmates last night (September 9) with a statement on Instagram.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our brother and great friend, Ben Thapa. Words cannot express how we all feel right now,” it read. “We understand that this will be heartbreaking news for so many others too and we send you our love and support as we all remember the amazing man and memories that he has left behind.”

The statement continued: “Ben has been such a major part of the international singing community and he was a critical part of our journey as a group. Thank you for your love at this difficult time. RIP Ben.”

At time of writing, the cause of death has not been shared publicly, however, the announcement of his passing comes after the singer shared an update from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital last week. In the update, he posted a photo of a dialysis machine which he joked was “my new dialysis friend”.

Thapa was born in Cambridge in 1982 and first started singing as part of his local church choir. He then went on to form the group G4 in 2004 with his Guildhall School of Music and Drama students Matt Stiff, Michael Christie and Jon Ansellt.

He was a classically trained opera singer who performed as a low tenor, and the band rose to fame after taking part in the debut season of X Factor in 2004 as a barbershop quartet. They had Louis Walsh as a mentor during the series, and came in second place, with Steve Brookstein taking home the victory.

That being said, the band did go on to outsell Brookstein after the competition, sharing their self-titled debut album in 2005, followed by ‘G4 & Friends’ which saw guest appearances from Robin Gibb, Lesley Garrett and Cliff Richard.

They later shared three more records during their time together, before Thapa departed from the lineup in 2018 to focus on his opera career (via Independent).