Toots Hibbert Passed Away!

Toots Hibbert passed away.

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Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert, O.J. passed away. Known as one of the founding fathers of reggae music, Toots Hibbert died at home in Kingston, Jamaica.

Hibbert, hailed as an influential singer, innovator and musician founded the group, Toots and The Maytals in the late 1960s.

Hibbert passed away "surrounded by his family" at the University Hospital of the West Indies late Friday. While the cause of death is not confirmed, he was recently tested for the coronavirus.

"The family and his management team would like to thank the medical teams and professionals for their care and diligence, and ask that you respect their privacy during their time of grief," said the statement.



Hibbert was survived by his wife and eight children.

Trojan Records released albums from Toots and The Maytals said they'll pay homage to him.




A reggae pioneer, he performed for six decades and helped establish some of the fundamentals of reggae music. Hibbert's 1968 song "Do the Reggay" is widely credited as the genesis of the genre name reggae. His band's greatest hits album True Love won a Grammy Award in 2005.

Toots and The Maytals.

Toots was born in 1942 in the town of May Pen, Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica, the youngest of eight children. Hibbert's parents were both strict Seventh-day Adventist preachers so he grew up singing gospel music in a church choir. Both parents died young and by 11, Toots was an orphan who went to live with his brother John in the Trenchtown neighborhood of Kingston.

In 1962, while working at a local barbershop, he was heard singing inside by Ralphus "Raleigh" Gordon and Nathaniel "Jerry" Matthias. They would become a trio forming The Maytals—which were named after Hibbert's hometown of May Pen.

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