MIAMI (CelebrityAccess) — Prince Buster, a pioneer of ska music who had a lasting impact on the Jamaican music world, died at his home in Miami on Thursday. He was 78.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Cecil Bustamante Campbell got his first introduction into the music world as a performer at local clubs but soon found himself working with Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd, a businessman who operated one of Kingston's most popular sound systems.
Campbell learned the business under Dodd, but eventually branched out on his own, just as the sound system scene in Jamaica started to transition away from the American R&B sound towards the styles of rocksteady and ska.
Several of Campbell's early recordings on his own label Wild Bells, including Thirty Pieces of Silver and Little Honey, are considered formative in early Jamaican ska music for their use of Calypso-infused syncopation.
Campbell recorded prolifically in the 1960s and early 1970s, but his career eventually slowed and he effectively retired from the music industry in 1973, however, he would continue to appear at ska and world music festivals for the rest of his life.
In 2001 Campbell was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican Government for his contribution to music.
According to the BBC, Prince Buster is survived by his wife Mola Ali and his children. – Staff Writers
