San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
REGGAE STAR, BANDLEADER HELPED TRANSFORM A MUSICAL MOVEMENT
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1942-2020
Toots Hibbert, the charismatic reggae singer and bandleader who helped transform the groove-driven sound of 1960s Jamaica into an international musical movement, has died. He was 77.
Hibbert, frontman of Toots & the Maytals, had been in a medically induced coma at a hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, since earlier this month. He was admitted in intensive care after complaints of having breathing difficulties, according to his publicist. It was revealed in local media that the singer was awaiting results from a COVID-19 test after showing symptoms.
News of the five-time Grammy nominee’s ill health came just weeks after his last known performance, on a national livestream during Jamaica’s Emancipation and Independence celebrations in August.
A family statement said Hibbert died Friday at University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, surrounded by family, The Associated Press reported.
One of the titans of Jamaican ska and reggae music, Hibbert and his vocal trio the Maytals helped set the template for the genres starting in the early 1960s with hits including “Bam Bam,” “54-46 That’s My Number” and “Monkey Man.” His 1968 song “Do the
Reggay” helped popularized the term “reggae.”
But it is Hibbert’s exuberant five-word refrain to open the Maytals’ biggest hit, “Pressure Drop,” that will forever be his calling card:
“It is you — oh, yeah!” The soaring, gospel-informed song earned him and his band worldwide success after it was included on the soundtrack to the 1972 Jamaican crime film “The Harder They Come.” Alongside now-classics of the genre including Jimmy Cliff’s title track, the Slickers’ “Johnny Too Bad” and the Melodians’ “Rivers of Babylon,” “Pressure Drop” as sung by Hibbert resonated like a wail from the heart of
Kingston.
By then Hibbert had renamed the group to give himself top billing, and as Toots and the Maytals he relentlessly toured the world: In Nigeria, he toured with Fela Kuti. In England, he inspired the punks. In America, he shared bills with platinum artists including the Eagles and the Who. At Anaheim Stadium in 1975, Hibbert and his band opened for Linda Ronstadt, then at the peak of her commercial success.
Along the way, “Pressure Drop” became an anthem that crossed oceans and borders. Its message of karmic justice earned further attention when the punk band the Clash released a version of it in 1978.
Hibbert issued more than two dozen studio albums across his career, along the way collaborating with artists including Steve Winwood, Bonnie Raitt and Derek Trucks. He dabbled with American R&B on “Just Like That” in 1980, but as the electronically charged subgenre dancehall supplanted reggae on the Kingston charts, Hibbert took a pause. “After the deaths of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, I figured I should eat other seeds,” Hibbert told The Times. “I stopped singing for a long while, and was just writing songs and teaching the youths.”
Hibbert toured the world as a reggae ambassador, most notably during his many appearances at the long-running Reggae Sunsplash series of annual festivals. By the early 2000s, those concerts and his records had drawn a host of admirers, some of them featured on his 2004 album “True Love.” Featuring collaborations with Willie Nelson, the Roots, Keith Richards, Manu Chao, No Doubt, Trey Anastasio and others, the album confirmed Hibbert’s universal appeal. It also earned him his only Grammy Award.
Hibbert remained active until very recently and remained a beloved figure at home. In 2012, he was conferred the Order of Jamaica, a cultural honor awarded to Jamaican citizens of outstanding distinction.