Jamaican reggae pioneer Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert has died at the age of 77. The legendary musician fronted the reggae and ska band Toots & the Maytals from the early 1960s. The Toots & the Maytals announced that frontman, Hibbert "passed away peacefully" in Kingston, Jamaica surrounded by his family, on Friday 11th Sept. His death comes just weeks after the release of Got to Be Tough, the band's first full-length album in more than a decade.
Hibbert is credited with popularising reggae music and even naming the genre - his 1968 single ‘Do the Reggay’ is the first song to use the term and he labelled the genre for the next generation. At the time, the word reggae didn't exist. The music, which was an evolution of ska and rocksteady, had been called blue-beat or boogie-beat until Hibbert intervened.
"The music was there and no-one didn't know what to call it," he told 6 Music.
"And in Jamaica we had a slang - if we're not looking so good, if we're looking raggedy, we'd call it 'streggae'. That's where I took it from.”
Not only did he coin the term Reggae and go on to influence thousands of artists across the world, his talent wasn’t just in his songwriting and musicianship - it was in his voice too - he was an incredible vocalist - so much so he’s made his mark in the Rolling Stones list for top 100 singers of all time hitting number 71 - putting him above other talented singers like Stevie Nicks, BB King, Morrissey and Dolly Parton.
Breaking through into the global mainstream was helped by some great international acts covering his songs such as Monkey Man (1969) which has been covered by the late Amy Winehouse and ska group, The Specials. However ‘Pressure Drop’(1973) was arguably the song that ultimately made them a worldwide success, and helped to launch the band’s career outside of Jamaica. ‘Pressure Drop’ featured on the soundtrack to the 1972 film ‘The Harder They Come’, which went on to introduce reggae to the rest of the world. This song has been covered often by a variety of artists, most notoriously, The Specials, The Clash and Keith Richards.
1973 was a staple primitive time in the band’s career, as they bounced back from Hibbert’s arrest and released the album ‘Funky Kingston’ which went on to feature some of their most famous hits, such as title track ‘Funky Kingston’, ‘Louie Louie’, and ‘Pressure Drop’. Also, after his brief stint in prison back in 1967 for a minor marijuana offence, Hibbert went on to write perhaps their most well-known hit - ‘54-46 Was My Number’. The song tells the tale of him getting arrested, and his trouble with the policeman. Frederick Hibbert’s ability to storytell, combined with funk-lined ska beats, positive affirmations, and socially conscious lyrics are what made him such an influential legend and led him to create the punk of Jamaica - the genre that is reggae.
According to The Guardian, in 2012, he laid out his ethos for reggae for Interview magazine, describing his songs as “a message of consolation; a message of salvation. The youth are going to the school and they have to listen to the words. The parents have to listen to the words. God has to listen to the words. So, we have to make it positive. If you sing nursery rhymes, it is nothing. You just blow up tomorrow, and the record dies at the same time. But if you give positive words, that song lives for ever.” - And that is why the ‘old’ music is the gold music.
Celebrity tributes poured in from the likes of Ziggy Marley, UB40, Blondie, The Who, The Selector, Lee Scratch Perry and many more for this well-loved and highly respected artist.
RIP Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert, may your memory live on!
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