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Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert Co-Founder Of The Maytals, Dead At 77

Toots Hibbert
Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert (Shutterstock)
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KINGSTON, Jamaica (CelebrityAccess) — Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, Reggae pioneer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and frontman of Toots & The Maytals, died on Friday in Kingston. He was 77.

His death was announced in a statement on the band’s social media: It is with the heaviest of hearts to announce that Frederick Nathaniel ‘Toots’ Hibbert passed away peacefully tonight, surrounded by his family at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.”

A cause of death was not revealed, but a statement posted to his Facebook account in August said he had been placed in intensive care while awaiting the results of a test for COVID-19.

A native of Jamaica, Hibbert formed the Maytals with Ralphus “Raleigh” Gordon and Nathaniel “Jerry” Matthias in the early 1960s and the group was well-positioned for the reggae boom when it emerged from the rocksteady sound in the late 1960s.

A 1968 single by the Maytals “Do the Reggay” became the group’s signature hit and helped to solidify the name of the new sound.

Hibbert and the Maytals proved to be able ambassadors for reggae, with extensive international tours and collaboration with a diverse array of artists, from Willie Nelson to Malik Al Nasir and Steel Pulse’s Sidney Mills.

In 2011, Hibbert was featured in the BBC documentary Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals which featured appearances from Marcia Griffiths, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Willie Nelson, Anthony DeCurtis, Ziggy Marley, Chris Blackwell, Paolo Nutini, Paul Douglas, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.

Hibbert and the Maytals won the Grammy for best reggae album in 2005 for their hit “True Love” and in 2012, Hibbert was i was conferred the Order of Jamaica, the country’s fifth highest honor.

Hibbert released his final album with the Maytals, “Got To Be Tough”, at the end of August.


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