“Jamaica’s Greatest Drummer,” Sly Dunbar Dies at 73
Sly Dunbar, the drummer who helped propel reggae to the world outside Jamaica and anchored recordings for everyone from Bob Dylan to Simply Red, has died at 73.
The Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper, reported Dunbar’s death Jan. 26; no cause was listed.
A “deeply saddened” Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness called Dunbar “an architect of sound” in an online eulogy.
“Jamaica, and the entire world, has lost a titan of music,” Holness said.
Typically working alongside his production and rhythm partner, bassist Robbie Shakespeare, who died in 2021, Dunbar played with reggae musicians including Black Uhuru, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh. The pair went on to anchor recordings by Dylan, Jackson Browne, Yoko Ono, Carly Simon, the Rolling Stones and others.
Dunbar, Simply Red’s Mick Hucknall said, was “Jamaica’s greatest drummer,” who, with Shakespeare, comprised “Jamaica’s greatest rhythm section.”
“I liked (Dunbar) as a person and admired him enormously as a musician,” Hucknall said.
UB40’s Ali Campbell called Dunbar an “originator” whose influence permeates 21st-century music.
“Modern-day beats simply wouldn’t be what they are without the influence of reggae and dancehall riddims that Sly singlehandedly pioneered,” Campbell said.
“Walk good, Sly. Raise one with Robbie.”
1/26/26
