Toots Hibbert died on the evening of Friday, September 11, 2020, at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, surrounded by his family. A statement from the band and his relatives, quoted by the BBC, read: “It is with the heaviest of hearts to announce that Frederick Nathaniel ‘Toots’ Hibbert passed away peacefully tonight, surrounded by his family.” He was 77.
The final days
Hibbert had released Got to Be Tough, his first studio album in a decade, on 28 August 2020, NPR records. Two days later he was hospitalised; on 31 August the band confirmed he had been tested for coronavirus and placed in intensive care. The BBC noted that the cause of death was not initially disclosed, though he had been treated for Covid-like symptoms and placed in a medically induced coma. The Guardian reported that he died at a private hospital in Kingston after treatment; both outlets agree on the date: Friday, 11 September. He is survived by his wife Doreen and seven of his eight children, the BBC states.
What he gave the music
The New York Times called him “one of the fathers of reggae” and “the first to use the word reggae on a record.” The Associated Press credited him with giving the music its name and exporting it through “Pressure Drop,” “Monkey Man” and “Funky Kingston.” David Katz, in the Guardian obituary, wrote that before Bob Marley’s global fame Hibbert “was one of the main global faces of reggae music — or at least of its predecessors, ska and rock steady.” Tributes poured in from Ziggy Marley, Shaggy, Keith Richards and reggae fans worldwide.
The Maytals legacy
From the harmony trio he formed with Raleigh Gordon and Jerry Matthias in 1962 to the Grammy-winning True Love and the posthumously honoured Got to Be Tough, Hibbert’s voice — church-bred, soul-broken, always pushing — carried Jamaican music across every border the genre would cross. Bassist Jackie Jackson, his bandmate for some fifty years, embodied the continuity: the Maytals sound outlasted every lineup change until the leader’s death.
Listen and dig deeper
- Play Got to Be Tough, True Love, Funky Kingston and Reggae Got Soul in the Listen library. Browse Toots Hibbert and Toots & The Maytals.
- The timeline from the start: The Maytals form (1962) → ‘Do the Reggay’ (1968) → ‘Monkey Man’ (1969) → ‘Pressure Drop’ (1970) → ‘Funky Kingston’ (1972) → ‘Reggae Got Soul’ (1975) → ‘True Love’ at the Grammys (2004) → The Grammys (2013) → ‘Got to Be Tough’ (2020).
Sources: BBC News — “Toots Hibbert: Jamaican reggae legend dies aged 77” (Sep 12, 2020); BBC News — “Obituary: Toots Hibbert — the man who coined the word reggae” (Sep 12, 2020); The Guardian — “Toots Hibbert, pioneering reggae star, dies aged 77” (Sep 12, 2020); The Guardian — “Toots Hibbert obituary” (David Katz, Sep 12, 2020); The New York Times — “Toots Hibbert, a Father of Reggae, Is Dead” (Ben Sisario, Sep 12, 2020); Associated Press — “Toots Hibbert, beloved reggae star, dead at 77” (Sep 11, 2020); NPR — Toots Hibbert obituary (Sep 12, 2020).
Editor’s note: This entry is part of the JamaicansMusic online museum — a career timeline assembled from the archive. It is dated to the events it documents; every claim is drawn from the linked sources.