• NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from Blues Scene about music & art.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About J.J. Cale

January 26, 2023

Listen: Colemine Records to Posthumously Release Fred Davis LP, ‘Cleveland Blues’

January 26, 2023

Host Tim White Discusses ‘Song of the Mountains’ TV Show, PBS Program Focusing on Bluegrass Origins in Marion, Virginia

January 25, 2023

The BluesBones Premiere Video for ‘Chain Gang,’ the First Single off New Album

January 25, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Facebook Twitter Instagram Vimeo
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
  • NEWS
  • REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • EVENTS
  • VIDEOS
American Blues SceneAmerican Blues Scene
Home»News»Toots and the Maytals’ Toots Hibbert, Roots Reggae Trailblazer, Dies Aged 77
News

Toots and the Maytals’ Toots Hibbert, Roots Reggae Trailblazer, Dies Aged 77

Lauren LeadinghamBy Lauren LeadinghamSeptember 12, 2020Updated:September 12, 2020No Comments2 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email VKontakte WhatsApp
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Toots Hibbert, founder of the Maytals and father of Jamaican ska/reggae, has sadly passed away at the age of 77 — just weeks after releasing his latest album, Got to Be Tough. Hibbert had recently been in a medically-induced coma after being admitted to a hospital in St. Andrew, Jamaica. According to family, he died on Friday night, cause undisclosed.

It is with the heaviest of hearts to announce that Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert passed away peacefully tonight, surrounded by his family at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica… pic.twitter.com/zOb6yRpJ7n

— Toots & The Maytals (@tootsmaytals) September 12, 2020

The youngest of seven children, born on December, 8, 1942 in May Pen, singing was in Hibbert’s blood from an early age as he grew up singing in church. In 1962, he formed the Maytals as a vocal trio with Henry “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” Mathias in Kingston. His soulful vocal style would immediately establish him “The Otis Redding of Reggae.”

Getty Images

The Maytals had a trifecta of hit singles with “Bam Bam,” “Fever,” and “Sweet and Dandy.” In 1967, Hibbert was arrested for marijuana possession, serving nine months behind bars. This holdup prompted what would become one of the Maytals’ most crowd-pleasing songs, “54-46 Was My Number,” which references his prison number.

Hibbert literally coined the word “Reggae” as a musical term in 1968 with the Maytals’ “Do the Reggay.” He has been sampled or covered by KRS-One, Keith Richards, the Clash, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds, Sublime, The Specials, etc.

Toots achieved the most soulful treatment of the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.” And in the same year the last legislation was enacted during the civil rights era, he sang, “I know, oh yes, I know, yeah / I’m going to live to see everyone free, free, free, free” in  “I Shall Be Free.” Always a man of well-timed hopefulness at a time of social upheaval, from the ’60s to present day, the influence and import of his music will continue to sustain through times of civil rights struggles.

Rest in power, Toots. We will never forget you.

 

Jamaica Obituary Original Ska Reggae Rocksteady Toots Toots and the Maytals Toots Hibbert
Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email WhatsApp
Previous ArticleListen: Tom Petty’s “Confusion Wheel” from Upcoming ‘Wildflowers & All the Rest’
Next Article The 27 Club: Musicians Who Died Too Soon
Lauren Leadingham

Director of Content

Related Posts

Listen: Colemine Records to Posthumously Release Fred Davis LP, ‘Cleveland Blues’

January 26, 2023

The BluesBones Premiere Video for ‘Chain Gang,’ the First Single off New Album

January 25, 2023

Savoy Brown to Release ‘Blues All Around’ After the Passing of Legendary Founder

January 24, 2023

The Nighthawks Share First Single ‘Don’t Know Where She Went’ From New EP

January 20, 2023

Comments are closed.

Advertisment
Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Events
  • Videos
  • About

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.