Guitarist
Syndicate, along with bass player Robbie Shakespeare, recorded as The Aggrovators for Lee.
Bunny Lee’s given name was Edward O’sullivan
Lee. He learned the music business pushing songs at dances by Duke Reid and Clement “Coxsone” Dodd during the early 1960s.
Late that decade, Lee introduced the Greenwich Town sound to the mainstream through a series of lovers’ rock songs. They included Conversation (The Uniques), Everybody Needs Love (Slim Smith), Smooth Operator, Better Must Come (Delroy Wilson) and Stick By Me (John Holt).
In the 1970s he produced several hard-hitting songs by Rastafarian artistes including Max Romeo’s Let The Power Fall, Johnny Clarke’s None Shall Escape The Judgement, and The Gorgon by Cornel Campbell.
Lee’s success opened doors for the Hoo Kim brothers to launch Channel One at nearby Maxfield Avenue in 1972. For the next decade, Kingston 13 was the leading source of hit songs in Jamaica.
Credited for introducing the ‘Flying Cymbal’ drum sound to reggae, Lee also had a licensing deal with British label Trojan Records which made him a popular figure in the United Kingdom for over 40 years.
“Striker rule England from di late 70s, di whole a 80s an’ di 90s,” said Smith. “Is a real godfather. A nuff little youth him tek off di streets.”
A documentary film, directed by English flautist Diggory Kenrick, entitled I Am The Gorgon — Bunny Striker Lee and the Roots of Reggae, was released in 2015. Reggae Going International 1967-1976: The Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee Story, a book/compact disc, was also released in 2015.
In 2008, Lee was awarded the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) by the Jamaican Government for his contribution to the development of the country’s music.
He is survived by widow Annette, and several children.