Legendary Reggae Drummer Sly Dunbar Has Passed Away At 73
The wife of legendary reggae drummer Sly Dunbar announced his passing today at the age of 73. Dunbar was best known as one-half of the duo Sly and Robbie, but he played drums for a number of high-profile musicians over the years. Here is a look back at the prolific Jamaican drummer’s long and storied career.
Birth of a Legend
Dunbar got his start in Kingston, Jamaica, at the age of 15 in a band called the Yardbrooms. He played with a couple of other bands until he met Robbie Shakespeare in 1971. The two hit it off and soon joined Peter Tosh’s band. They recorded five albums with the late reggae great, and towards the end of their time with his band, the duo started their own record label, Taxi Records.
Taxi Records and Beyond
Sly and Robbie’s Taxi Records worked with a number of internationally successful artists, including Black Uhuru, Red Dragon, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Shaggy, Shabba Ranks, and Ini Kamoze. The duo also recorded several albums together on the label.
By this time, the two were so well-known that musicians were practically lining up to work with them. Dunbar played or recorded with the likes of the Aggrovators, Bob Marley, Junior Murvin, and the Revolutionaries. As a duo, Sly and Robbie worked with Bob Dylan, Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Joan Armatrading, Joe Cocker, the Rolling Stones, Jimmy Cliff, Jackson Browne, Bootsy Collins, Ziggy Marley, Yoko Ono, Sinead O’Connor, Carly Simon, Simply Red, and others. Shakespeare passed away following kidney surgery in December of 2021, at the age of 68.
Awards
Dunbar was nominated for 13 Grammy Awards over the course of his long career. He won a 1985 Grammy for Best Reggae Recording for the Black Uhuru album Anthem, which he and Shakespeare produced. He also won a Best Reggae Album Grammy in 1999 with Shakespeare for their Sly and Robbie album Friends.
Sly Dunbar’s Legacy
Dunbar was a pioneer and an innovator, both as a drummer and a reggae artist. There was a period of time where if you heard a reggae album, it was either him playing or someone playing a technique or a style that he had revolutionized. The music world truly lost a legend today. Rest in peace, Lowell Fillmore “Sly” Dunbar.
