Known as the “Dark Prince of Reggae,” Keith Hudson was a reggae musician, singer, songwriter and producer who helped usher in the practice of “dub.” As a child growing up in Kingston, Hudson was a schoolmate of such future legends as Bob Marley, Ken Boothe and Delroy Wilson. Even at an early age, he gravitated toward the riddems that would eventually be called ska and reggae. He soon became a disciple of Coxsone Dodd, the legendary Jamaican producer. In 1960, Hudson produced his first record by a group of musicians who would soon become members of the Skatalites. His first hit as a producer came in the late ’60s thanks to “Old Fashioned Way,” a record he made with Boothe. He went on to work with Wilson, Alton Ellis and U-Roy. He began making his own records during the ’70s and began experimenting with dub. His albums at the time were critical hits in Jamaica. His 1975 Pick A Dub is considered a masterpiece and is widely regarded as the very first deliberately thematic dub album. Hudson moved to New York City not long after the release of Pick A Dub and eventually started his own label. He was diagnosed with lung cancer during the summer of 1984, and was 38 when he died of it four months later.
Byron Lee was a Jamaican musician, band leader and producer who has been credited for introducing the electric bass to Jamaica. He formed the Dragonaires in the early ’50s. They went on to become one of the most successful and influential ska bands Jamaica has ever known. As a producer, Lee worked with the likes of the Maytals. He later bought a recording studio and turned it into the best of it’s kind in Jamaican, hosting the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon among other major acts. In 2007, it became known that Lee was being treated for bladder cancer. Although he was no longer able to perform with the Dragonaires, he continued on in a management capacity. Byron Lee died of cancer at the age of 73.
Known as the “Godfather Of Rocksteady,” Alton Ellis was a Jamaican musician who took the elements of ska and slowed them down to a more relaxed beat. It in turn, paved the way for what we now know as reggae. A prolific singer, Ellis began his career with Eddy Perkins in the late ’50s as part of a duo, Alton & Eddy, who scored a big Jamaican hit with their “Muriel.” In the early ’60s, he formed his group, the Flames just as ska was taking hold throughout Jamaica. He slowed the beat down and recorded a hit song called “Rock Steady” which became the new genre’s name. In 1967, he recorded a song called “Mad Men” that included a three-note descending horn line which became became a constant in more than 100 reggae songs to follow. Reinterpretations of it can be heard in hip-hop songs by the likes of Tupac Shakur, KRS-One, and the Notorious B.I.G.. Ellis continued to stay active until his health began to give out in the mid 2000’s. Diagnosed with cancer in late 2007, Alton Ellis died of it on October 10, 2008. He was 70 years old.
Trevor Rhone was a Jamaican actor, playwright and director. He helped popularize reggae, particularly in America with the script he wrote to the 1972 movie, The Harder The Come” which starred Jimmy Cliff and several other reggae artists. The film and its soundtrack introduced Jamaican culture and music to many in the US. The film featured songs performed by Cliff, the Maytals, Desmond Dekker and more. Trevor Rhone died of a heart attack on September 15, 2009. He was 69 years old.
Peter Tosh (Born Winston McIntosh)
October 19, 1944 – September 11, 1987
Peter Tosh was one of the true icons of reggae music. Tosh is best remembered as a founding member of Bob Marley and the Wailers. The group signed to Chris Blackwell’s Island Records who released their first two albums, Catch A Fire and Burnin’ in 1973. Tosh left the Wailers in 1974 after a dispute with Blackwell. He released his 1976 solo debut, Legalize It, on Columbia Records. While Marley’s records focused more on love and peace, Tosh’s tended to speak out against “the system.” In 1978, the Rolling Stones signed him to their own label, Rolling Stones Records where he released the critically acclaimed Bush Doctor, Mystic Man, and Wanted Dread Or Alive, the first one including the hit Tempations cover “Don’t Look Back,” a duet with Mick Jagger. Tosh was also very active in the protest against apartheid in South Africa, performing at several benefit concerts and participating in benefit albums. On September 11, 1987, after returning from the United States where he was won a Grammy for Best Reggae Performance for No Nuclear War, Tosh was in his house waiting for friends to come celebrate his arrival. That party never happened though, as the 42-year-old Tosh was murdered execution-style during a botched home invasion robbery.
Johnny “Dizzy” Moore
October 5, 1938 – August 16, 2008
Johnny “Dizzy” Moore is best remembered as a founding member of reggae’s the Skatalites, with whom he played the trumpet. Formed in 1964, the Skatalites were one of ska’s pioneers. Moore died of colon cancer at the age of 69.
Leslie Kong was unique in that he was a Chinese Jamaican and therefore seemed an unlikely person to be one of the founding fathers of reggae. Kong owned a record store in Kingston when he heard a young Jimmy Cliff singing outside in 1961. Kong had an epiphany and launched his own label, Beverley’s which was instrumental to the early development of ska, rock steady and reggae. Kong recorded Cliff’s first record as well as Bob Marley’s earliest singles in 1962. Other key reggae artists that Kong recorded during their early years were Desmond Dekker, Joe Higgs, Toots & The Maytalls, and Derrick Morgan. Kong has the distinct honor of producing reggae’s first International hit with Dekker’s “007 (Shanty Town)” in 1967. In August of 1971, Leslie Kong suffered a fatal heart attack. Many believe it was due to a curse that the Wailers’ Bunny Livingston placed on him after a business dispute. He was just 38.
Dennis Brown was a Jamaican reggae star who, over the course of his astonishing 30-year career made over 75 albums. He was much respected by peers and fans the world over for his lovers rock style of reggae. One fan in particular carried tremendous weight within the community, that being Bob Marley, who called Brown “the crown prince of reggae.” Literally growing up in the center of Jamaica’s music scene, the young Brown would witness then and future reggae stars going to and from recording sessions. Bitten by the bug, Brown was just 11 years old when he recorded his first hit, a cover of the Impressions’ “No Man Is An Island,” and by 13, he was releasing his first album. By 1975, Bob Marley was calling him the best reggae singer in the world, and by the time he turned 22, he was already considered a reggae legend the world over. Sadly, ganja wasn’t Brown’s only mind recreation of choice as he developed an addiction to cocaine, perhaps say some, due to the phenomenal recording and performance pace he kept throughout his career. That addiction would prove fatal when he was rushed to the hospital with what turned out to be a collapsed lung. Dying on the operating table on July 1, 1999, many believe the typically non-fatal condition became deadly because of his substance abuse.
Sonny Okosun was one of Nigeria’s most popular musicians through most of the ’70s and ’80s. His most popular song was 1977’s “Fire In Soweto,” which was featured on Little Steven’s anti-apartheid album, Sun City. Another of his songs, “High Life” was later featured on the soundtrack for 1986 film, Something Wild. By the mid 80s, Okosun had moved out of the pop arena and transitioned into gospel music. He died of colon cancer on May 24, 2008 at the age of 61.
Bob Marley was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter who is widely recognized for bringing reggae music to the rest of the world. He is arguable the most beloved performer of reggae. His greatest hits album, Legend, is the biggest selling reggae album of all times, selling a staggering 20 million copies. in 1963, producer Coxsone Dodd discovered Marley in a group that also included Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. They would soon become the Wailers. Over the next several years, Marley would release a string of albums that would help define a sound and movement. Those classic albums included Catch A Fire, Burnin’, Rastaman Vibration, and of course, Exudus. In July of 1977, Marley was diagnosed with a form of malenoma in his big toe. Citing his Rastafarian belief that the body most remain whole, Marley refused to receive any form of surgical treatment. Instead, he sought more controversial and holistic forms of treatment, but the cancer had already progrossed too far. Bob Marley passed away in a Miami hospital at the age of 36.
As a respected Jamaican trombonist, Don Drummond was one of the original foundations on which ska was built. Drummond started his career in the mid ’50s with Eric Dean’s All Stars, and in 1964, he helped form the legendary Skatalites. Besides being one of the world’s best trombone players, Drummond was an extrememely prolific songwriter, penning over 300 songs over his very short career. On January 1, 1965, Drummond was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, exotic dancer Anita “Margarita” Mahfood, who he stabbed to death in his apartment. At his trial, he was found to be legally insane and was committed to Bellevue Hospital where he died of an apparent suicide on May 6, 1969. Family and friends however, insist Drummond died at the hands of either a Jamaican government targeting the Kingston music scene, or the mob as revenge for the death of Mahfood.
Clement “Coxsone” Dodd
January 26, 1932 – May 5, 2004
Coxsone Dodd was the pioneering Jamaican DJ and producer that many credit for early development of reggae and ska. Dodd’s career in music began at an early age when he would spin records at this parents’ store. He grew that into a popular sound system business, employing the likes of Lee “Scratch” Perry an U-Roy to run the sound systems. Having spent some time in the United States, Dodd featured early American R&B records, first introducing many Jamaicans to the music. Realizing that he couldn’t keep up with the local demand for new music with imports from the States, Dodd decided to start his own record label and shortly thereafter, open his Studio One recording studio. Over the next two decades, Dodd would produce and release some of reggae’s greatest songs and albums from such artists as Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Sugar Minott, Ras Michael and Horace Andy. To many, he was to reggae what Berry Gordy was to R&B, and his “studio one sound” would become the blueprint for ska and rocksteady. Dodd died of a heart attack at the age of 74.
Carlton “Carly” Barrett
December 17, 1950 – April 17, 1987
Carlton Barrett was a reggae drummer and songwriter as well as brother of Aston “Family Man” Barrett. The Barrett brothers started out together, forming a session band first called Soul Mates, then Rhythm Force and finally the Hippy Boys that featured Max Romeo on vocals. By the early ’70s, the Hippy Boys were officially the house band for the great Lee “Scratch” Perry who renamed them the Upsetters. Barrett played behind Perry on some of reggae’s greatest instrumentals, such as “Clint Eastwood” and “Cold Sweat.” It was around this time that Barrett brothers met Bob Marley who had formed a trio with Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. Carlton and Aston were hired to play on several early tracks and soon became permanent members of the Wailers. Carlton stayed in the Wailers until Marley’s death in 1981. Carlton Barrett was shot to death outside his home on April 17, 1987. His wife, her then lover and another man were implicated in the murder. She ended up serving just one year for conspiracy.
Mikey Dread (Born Mike Campbell)
January 1, 1954 – March 15, 2008
Mikey Dread passed away from a brain tumor on March 15, 2008 at the age of 54. Adept at engineering and electronics, Dread started his career as an engineer at the JBC – Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation. At the time, the station was broadcasting mostly foreign pop songs, so Dread convinced the highers-up to give him his own program which he called Dread At The Controlswhich eventually became the most popular show on the network. One group of fans were the Clash who invited Dread to England to produce some tracks on their 1980 release, Sandinista! as well as to tour with them through Europe and beyond. Throughout this time he was building his own audience as a respected singer and performer. In his later years, Dread grew disillusioned with the record industry so he quietly retired and went back to school to study electronics and business in his new home city of Miami. This paid off as he was able to regain the rights to his music which he began re-releasing on his own label. In October of 2007, it was announced that he was being treated for a brain tumor. He passed away surrounded by his family at his Connecticut home on March 15, 2008.
Born Joel Gibson, this reggae producer would become better known as Joe Gibbs and because of his stellar work with Lee Scratch Perry, Roy Shirley, Dennis Brown and Culture. Many of his early productions were recorded in the back of his TV repair shop. In 1977, he produced Culture’s Two Sevens Clash, an album that should be required in any respectable reggae collection. Gibbs died from a heart attack in the West Indies.
Longtime manager and label executive Gary Kurfirst passed away while on vacation in Nassau, Bahamas yesterday (1/13). Over the course of four decades, Kurfirst has been involved with groups generating record sales in excess of 100 million units worldwide. He first opened the doors to the infamous Village Theater, later known as the Fillmore East, in 1967, where he promoted the East Coast debuts of Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, the Who, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page’s Yardbirds. In 1968, at 20 and a year before Woodstock, he created the model for the contemporary music festival by producing and promoting the legendary New York Rock Festival at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park, featuring shows by Hendrix, the Doors, Joplin, the Who and the Stooges, among others. He also managed Mountain from 1967-’75. In 1971, Kurfirst signed the Brazilian artist Deodato and helped guide his album to gold status with a #1 single. In 1975, he helped Chris Blackwell introduce reggae to America withBob Marley and Peter Tosh. In the ‘70s and ‘80s, Kurfirst helped usher in the punk and new wave era in music by managing punk icons the Ramones, art-rockers Talking Heads, theB52s, Blondie, Deborah Harry, Annie Lennox’s Eurythmics and Jane’s Addiction. He had two of his management clients, the Heads and Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, the only manager to have that distinction. Kurfirst also produced three feature-length films in the Heads’ critically acclaimed and award-winning concert film Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme; the quirky satire True Stories, directed by David Byrne; and Siesta, directed by Mary Lambert and featuring an all-star cast including Jody Foster, Ellen Barkin, Isabella Rossellini and Martin Sheen, as well as a soundtrack by Miles Davis. In 1990, Kurfirst joined forces with MCA and launched Radioactive Records, with the band Live. The band has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, which include two chart-topping albums. Kurfirst also signed Shirley Manson in 1991 and then brokered her deal with Almo as the lead singer of Garbage, who went on to sell more than 10 million albums. In 2002, Kurfirst and longtime friend Chris Blackwell launched two new music ventures: a talent management company, Kurfirst-Blackwell Entertainment, and Rx Records. Said Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth: “Gary Kurfirst has been our manager since 1977. He never failed to take care of business for us. He protected us. He allowed Talking Heads to be Talking Heads while he took the blows that the music business dealt us. Together we suffered heartbreaks and celebrated great triumphs. Gary truly was the fifth Talking Head. We were very close friends and we will miss him terribly.” - From Hits Magazine
Thanks to Craig Rosen from Number1Albums for the info
Vincent Ford, a songwriter credited with composing the Bob Marley reggae classic “No Woman, No Cry,” has died in Jamaica. He was 68. Ford died Sunday at a hospital of complications from diabetes, said Paul Kelly, a spokesman for the Kingston-based Bob Marley Foundation. The song, which appeared on Marley’s 1974 “Natty Dread” album, was inspired by the Kingston ghetto of Trench Town where Marley and Ford lived in the 1960s. Ford is credited with the tune. However, some critics contend that Marley wrote it himself but gave Ford the credit to help his friend support himself with the royalties. Ford, who ran a soup kitchen and lost both his legs to diabetes, is also credited with three songs on Marley’s 1976 album “Rastaman Vibration.” – Associated Press
Known as the “Dark Prince of Reggae,” Keith Hudson was a reggae musician, singer, songwriter and producer who helped usher in the practice of “dub.” As a child growing up in Kingston, Hudson was a schoolmate of such future legends as Bob Marley, Ken Boothe and Delroy Wilson. Even at an early age, he gravitated toward the riddems that would eventually be called ska and reggae. He soon became a disciple of Coxsone Dodd, the legendary Jamaican producer. In 1960, Hudson produced his first record by a group of musicians who would soon become members of the Skatalites. His first hit as a producer came in the late ’60s thanks to “Old Fashioned Way,” a record he made with Boothe. He went on to work with Wilson, Alton Ellis and U-Roy. He began making his own records during the ’70s and began experimenting with dub. His albums at the time were critical hits in Jamaica. His 1975 Pick A Dub is considered a masterpiece and is widely regarded as the very first deliberately thematic dub album. Hudson moved to New York City not long after the release of Pick A Dub and eventually started his own label. He was diagnosed with lung cancer during the summer of 1984, and was 38 when he died of it four months later.
Byron Lee was a Jamaican musician, band leader and producer who has been credited for introducing the electric bass to Jamaica. He formed the Dragonaires in the early ’50s. They went on to become one of the most successful and influential ska bands Jamaica has ever known. As a producer, Lee worked with the likes of the Maytals. He later bought a recording studio and turned it into the best of it’s kind in Jamaican, hosting the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon among other major acts. In 2007, it became known that Lee was being treated for bladder cancer. Although he was no longer able to perform with the Dragonaires, he continued on in a management capacity. Byron Lee died of cancer at the age of 73.
Trevor Rhone was a Jamaican actor, playwright and director. He helped popularize reggae, particularly in America with the script he wrote to the 1972 movie, The Harder The Come” which starred Jimmy Cliff and several other reggae artists. The film and its soundtrack introduced Jamaican culture and music to many in the US. The film featured songs performed by Cliff, the Maytals, Desmond Dekker and more. Trevor Rhone died of a heart attack on September 15, 2009. He was 69 years old.
Johnny “Dizzy” Moore is best remembered as a founding member of reggae’s the Skatalites, with whom he played the trumpet. Formed in 1964, the Skatalites were one of ska’s pioneers. Moore died of colon cancer at the age of 69.
Leslie Kong was unique in that he was a Chinese Jamaican and therefore seemed an unlikely person to be one of the founding fathers of reggae. Kong owned a record store in Kingston when he heard a young Jimmy Cliff singing outside in 1961. Kong had an epiphany and launched his own label, Beverley’s which was instrumental to the early development of ska, rock steady and reggae. Kong recorded Cliff’s first record as well as 
Dennis Brown was a Jamaican reggae star who, over the course of his astonishing 30-year career made over 75 albums. He was much respected by peers and fans the world over for his lovers rock style of reggae. One fan in particular carried tremendous weight within the community, that being 
Bob Marley was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter who is widely recognized for bringing reggae music to the rest of the world. He is arguable the most beloved performer of reggae. His greatest hits album, Legend, is the biggest selling reggae album of all times, selling a staggering 20 million copies. in 1963, producer 
