The music community has lost another one of its long-time great ambassadors as Jamaican reggae pioneer Frederick Nathaniel “Toots” Hibbert died on Friday at the age of 77. The announcement shared early Saturday morning came less than two weeks after it was reported the beloved veteran reggae musician and bandleader had been admitted into an intensive care unit and even placed in a medically induced coma at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston.

As news of his passing spread across the Internet on Saturday, a mix of his contemporaries including members of The Rolling Stones, Trey Anastasio, Yusuf / Cat Stevens, and even the Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness all shared their thoughts and memories of Hibbert’s musical legacy to their respective social media pages.

Related: Toots & The Maytals Bring Legendary Raggae Catalog To NYC’s Brooklyn Bowl [Photos]

Scroll down to read some of the tributes shares to social media on Saturday.

 

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I was so sad to wake up this morning and hear about the passing of Toots Hibbert. Like so many people, I’ve loved his music my entire life. It was ubiquitous, playing at parties and gatherings. It felt like an element, like air. In 2003, I was asked to play on Toot’s new album, True Love. I was told that the Maytals were coming to the Barn to record. When Toots and the band arrived for the session, I was nervous and basically speechless. Toots was a ray of light, so kind and welcoming. The guys in the band hovered in the corner, smoking more ganja than I had ever seen consumed. We decided to play Sweet and Dandy. I was a bit mortified and confused as to why such an iconic song should be re-released, but we recorded it, and it was was a thrill. What happened next I will never forget for as long as I live. Toots was supposed to do a song with Willie Nelson, but Willie was not there of course. Toots began searching, playing different Willie songs deafeningly loud through the giant speakers in the barn, while a bunch of us stood next to him by the soundboard. He said that he had to believe every single word in order to sing a song, a lesson I’ll never forget. He heard “Still is Still Moving to Me” and liked the song, and then as I stood watching, he and the Maytals recorded that track, live in the barn. Willie added his vocal after the fact. As long as I live, I will never forget watching it all go down. On playback, the engineer turned the bass ALL the way up. I don’t even know how to describe how booming it was. The bass knob was pinned to the right and the speakers were on 10. I’ve never heard bass that loud in my life. The barn was literally shaking. My guts were shaking. It was incredible. Toots sang his vocal, moving and dancing with his body, embodying every single syllable, like an open tube to the cosmos. Thank you Toots for a lifetime of joy and blessings. Rest In Peace. 📷: @david.corio

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