Sly Dunbar, the Jamaican drummer known as one half of the iconic production duo Sly & Robbie – has died at the age of 73.
The news was confirmed earlier today (January 26) by his wife Thelma, who told Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner: “About seven o’clock this morning I went to wake him up and he wasn’t responding. I called the doctor and that was the news.”
A cause of death has not been provided, but he had reportedly been ill for some time.
Dunbar developed a distinctive drumming style that drew on traditional Jamaican rhythms as well as rock, funk and soul, and it came to define a generation of reggae music.
He and bassist Robbie Shakespeare joined forces in 1972 and their rhythm section is estimated to have played on more than 200,000 recordings. They were enlisted by many of their elite contemporaries, including Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff and Black Uhuru and that success later saw them work with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Grace Jones.
In a 1997 interview with The Independent, Shakespeare recalled the first time the pair recorded together, saying: “From day one, when we first went into the studio together, we had that special chemistry. Definitely. Musically we’d have to set up a special channel to God to ask him why what we play always comes out right.”
As well as their success as musicians, which saw them playing on seminal reggae records such as Peter Tosh’s Legalize It and The Mighty Diamonds' Right Time, Sly and Robbie also established themselves as an inventive and genre-defining production duo.
In the Nineties, they produced hits including “Tease Me” and “Murder She Wrote” for Chaka Demus & Pliers. The following decade, they enjoyed further international success as the producers of No Doubt's “Hey Baby” and “Underneath It All”.
Last year, Rolling Stone placed Shakespeare at number 17 on their list of “The 50 Greatest Bassists of All Time”, just one of many accolades he received during a long and illustrious career.
