JAZZ & BLUES 2021

Having established Toots and
the Maytals in 1961 he worked
in the music industry for close
to seven decades. His entry
on the scene in the 1960s was meteoric
as he immediately caught the attention of
the industry and listeners alike and scored
some of Jamaica’s early international hits
including “Sweet and Dandy”, “Take Me
Home Country Roads”, “Monkey Man”, “54-
a pioneer
46”, “Peeping Tom”.
of reggae and its
evolutionary genres...
Toots was globally recognised as a pioneer of reggae and
its evolutionary genres, ska and rocksteady which have
not only been covered by famous foreign singers and
bands but have contributed to the development of other
modern genres. Toots was also credited with, if not
naming reggae, being the first to use the word in
the title of a song – the 1968 composition, “Do the
Reggay”. He performed and collaborated with many
international artistes including Willie Nelson
and the Rolling Stones. He performed in
some 60 countries in the continents
of Africa, Europe, Australia, North and
South America.
Toots was recognised for his
outstanding career winning the 2004
Reggae Grammy, for the album True
Love and his latest album, Got to
be Tough, released on August
28 has been nominated for
the 2021 Grammy Awards. In
2010 Rolling Stone Magazine
included him in their “100
Greatest Singers of All Time”
list with his ranking at 71. In
2012 he was awarded the
Order of Jamaica.
14
Jamaica Jazz and Blues
salutes the incomparable
Toots Hibbert!
The 2021 Jamaica
Jazz & Blues Team