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Two-time Grammy Award-winning reggae drummer Sly Dunbar, who fueled countless tracks from Bob Marley to Bob Dylan and was one-half of the influential reggae rhythm section Sly & Robbie, has died. He was 73.
Dunbar’s wife, Thelma, announced the death to the Jamaica Gleaner.
Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare — Sly & Robbie, also known as “The Riddim Twins” — played on reggae classics by Black Uhuru, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh and would garner attention far from Jamaica, from the likes of Grace Jones and the Rolling Stones.
Sly & Robbie played on three of Jones’ albums — “Warm Leatherette,” “Nightclubbing” and “Living My Life” — as well as four albums by Serge Gainsbourg and three by Dylan, 1983’s “Infidels,” 1985’s “Empire Burlesque” and 1988’s “Down in the Groove.”
“Words cannot describe how heartbroken I am to hear of the passing of my friend and legend,” singer Ali Campbell of UB40 posted on Facebook. “Modern day beats simply wouldn’t be what they are without the influence of reggae and dancehall riddims that Sly single-handedly pioneered.”
“Sly & Robbie were undisputed masters of the art, bringing a nuanced, unhurried and rock-solid rhythmic approach,” Rolling Stone magazine wrote in tribute. Shakespeare died in 2021.
Dunbar played with the Revolutionaries, the house band for Jamaica’s Channel One studio, while also touring, and played on Junior Murvin’s “Police and Thieves,” Maxi Priest’s “Easy to Love,” Dave and Ansell Collins’ classic “Double Barrel” and Marley’s “Punky Reggae Party.”
Nominated 13 times for a Grammy, he won twice — when Black Uhuru’s “Anthem” nabbed the inaugural Grammy for best reggae recording in 1985 and when Sly & Robbie’s “Friends” won best reggae album in 1999.
In 1980, Sly & Robbie co-founded Taxi Records, which has nurtured such artists as Shaggy, Shabba Ranks, Skip Marley, Beenie Man and Red Dragon.
“When you buy a reggae record, there’s a 90% chance the drummer is Sly Dunbar,” producer Brian Eno told the New Music New York festival in 1979. “You get the impression that Sly Dunbar is chained to a studio seat somewhere in Jamaica, but in fact what happens is that his drum tracks are so interesting, they get used again and again.”
