Robbie Shakespeare of Sly & Robbie passes away

December 8, 2021 81 5

Robbie Shakespeare has died.

POPULAR bass guitarist Robbie Shakespeare of ‘Riddim Twins’ Sly and Robbie is dead. He passed away on Wednesday 8th December 2021.

According to sources, Shakespeare was ailing for sometime.

“Robbie’s loss will be severely felt by the industry at home and abroad. My condolences to those he leaves behind,” said Olivia “Babsy” Grange, Minister of Entertainment and Culture, in a release sent to the Jamaica Observer.

Born On September 27th, 1953, Robbie Shakespeare the bassist for the Jamaican reggae duet, Sly and Robbie was born in Jamaica.

Drummer Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare are Jamaica’s most prolific rhythm section and production duo, having played or produced 50,000 songs.

Throughout the 1980s, Sly and Robbie worked with some of the biggest and brightest names in pop. Among them, Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Joe Cocker, Gwen Guthrie and rapper KRS 1, The Blackstones, Chaka Demus & Pliers, Fugees, Maxi Priest but to name a few.

Sly & Robbie have won several Grammy Awards since 1984, the first year Reggae got its own Grammy category. That year, they won with Black Uhuru. Since then, they have won a Grammy for best reggae album in 1998 with Friends and several others. Their patented sound ensured mainstream interest in Jamaican music following the death of Bob Marley in 1981. Indeed, they were the driving force behind Black Uhuru, a Waterhouse group marketed by Island Records, the company that helped break Marley’s music internationally.