The grim reaper passed through the entertainment industry throughout 2023, grabbing some of the finest and most honourable creatives of all ages. Today, we pause to pay tribute to and celebrate the lives of those who have left behind a great and oftentimes defining legacy.
FEBRUARY
Calton Coffie
Former lead singer of some of Inner Circle’s biggest hits, Calton Coffie (February 27, 1954) passed away on February 2 at the age of 68. Coffie was the voice of the group’s hit song, Bad Boys, the theme song from COPS.
MARCH
Arif Cooper
A producer, disc jockey and the CEO of Fresh Ear Productions/AMC Music Ltd, Arif Cooper died on March 5. He was 49. Cooper, a radio broadcaster for the RJR/Gleaner Communications Group, reportedly collapsed while playing at a party at the Police Officers’ Club in St Andrew. He was the son of reggae icon Ibo Cooper and Joy Cooper, both of whom passed away later in the year.
Junior English
Junior English, the well-known UK-based reggae singer who had a string of hits between the 1970s and 1980s, died in London on March 10. He was 71.
APRIL
Jah Shaka
Reggae and dub icon Jah Shaka, also known as the Zulu Warrior, died on April 12, a few days after he announced his new tour dates for 2023. Jah Shaka, who was a dub sound system operator, operated a South East London-based, roots reggae sound system since the early 1970s.
Harry Belafonte
Groundbreaking singer, actor and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte died on April 25 in the Upper West Side, New York, USA. He was 96. Born on March 1, 1927, in the US, Belafonte lived with one of his grandmothers in Jamaica from 1932 to 1940 and attended Wolmer’s Boys School. He was the first Jamaican American to win an Emmy, for Revlon Revue: Tonight with Belafonte (1959) and also made history when his breakthrough album, Calypso, became the first million-selling LP by a single artiste.
Among his best known songs are Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), Jamaica Farewell, Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora) and Mary’s Boy Child. As an actor, his credits include Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun, Buck and the Preacher and BlacKkKlansman.
MAY
Lester Sterling
Jamaican saxophonist and founding member of the legendary band, The Skatalites, Lester ‘Ska’ Sterling passed away on May 16 in the United States. Sterling was buried in Jamaica on July 18, in accordance with his last wish.
Boom Dandimite
Dancehall artiste Boom Dandimite died on May 22 at a a hospital in Florida. A member of the defunct Scare Dem Crew alongside Elephant Man, Nitty Kutchie and Harry Toddler, Boom Dandimite had arrived in the US to seek treatment after suffering complications from a car accident in Half-Way Tree months earlier.
JUNE
Claudette Kemp
Music industry stalwart Claudette Kemp, a long-time manager of reggae artiste Capleton, died on June 9. A former manager of Beres Hammond, and the spiritual sister of Peter Tosh, Kemp had a solid career in insurance prior to turning her attention to entertainment. A humanitarian, she was always on the lookout for somebody else to assist. On a side note, her potato puddings, which she said were “baked with love”, were legendary and it was a treat for her to hand them out freely to her friends in the music industry.
Taking to social media, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange paid tribute to a woman whom she hailed as “diligent and professional”.
Lord Creator
Trinidad-born calypsonian, ska and rocksteady artiste, Lord Creator, who was best known for the song Kingston Town, died on June 30 at the age of 87. The Trinidadian, who made Jamaica his home, was honoured by the Jamaican Government in 2022. On the 60th anniversary of the island’s Independence, Lord Creator was conferred with the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) for his contribution to the development of Jamaican music.
AUGUST
Jesse Jendah
Firebrand reggae singer Jesse Jendah, who is also known as ‘King Furnace’, passed away at a hospital in the Bronx on August 7. Born in Clarendon, Jesse Jendah started recording during the 1980s. He had lost his sight, but not his vision. Listed among his catalogue are songs such as Mark of the beast, Reparation, Sip Cup, Leonard Howell, Rothschild Crash Bank, Weed Free, Kween Of The Morning Star and Rasta Love.
OCTOBER
Ibo Cooper
Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper, reggae icon, muisc educator and co-founder of the band Third World died on October 12. He was 71 years old. Two weeks prior, Joy Cooper, Ibo’s wife of more than 50 years, made her transition. Their first son, Arif, passed away in March.
Gully Bop
On October 31, Gully Bop died at the age of 59 at the Kingston Public Hospital. Gully Bop, whose real name was Robert Lee Malcolm, was suffering from a kidney disease and resulting complications. His funeral is set for January 14.
NOVEMBER
Neville Garrick
Neville Garrick (1950–2023), renowned graphic artist, photographer and Bob Marley’s art director, died on November 14 in California. He was 73. For his contribution to the arts, Garrick was invested with the Order of Distinction, Commander Class, by the Jamaican Government.
DECEMBER
Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Zephaniah passed away on December 7 at the age of 65. The dub poet, who was best known for his works about racism and refugees, had been diagnosed with a tumour two month before his death. The son of a postman from Barbados and a Jamaican nurse, Zephaniah was born in Birmingham in April 1958. In 2008, Zephaniah was included in The Times list of Britain’s top 50 post-war writers. His bio states that in his work, Zephaniah drew on his lived experiences of incarceration, racism and his Jamaican heritage.
Earl Walker
Veteran session musician and bass player Earl ‘Bagga’ Walker died on December 17 at age 75. Walker’s name is closely associated with the Studio One label and the Twelve Tribes of Israel organisation.
