Toots and the Maytals, undoubtedly one of Jamaica’s most revered ska and reggae vocalists, is set to electrify Studio 38 this Sunday night, March 28, at the Live at Studio 38 concert series.

Toots will be joined on stage by balladeer extraordinaire A J Brown, who will perform an extended set before the Maytals. Toots, who has promised to do all of his biggest hits in the original format in which they were recorded, will be the fifth act in the series, following Beres Hammond’s exhilarating performance two weekends ago and earlier smash performances from the likes of John Holt, Ken Booth and Freddie McGregor.

Formed in the early 1960s when ska was hot, the Maytals had a reputation for having strong, well-blended voices and a seldom-rivaled passion for their music. Hibbert’s soulful style led him to be compared to Otis Redding. Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert, the frontman of the group, was born in May Pen, Clarendon, Jamaica in 1945, the youngest of seven children. He grew up singing gospel music in a church choir, and moved to Kingston in 1958 at the age of thirteen.

The Maytals first had chart success recording for producer Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd at Studio One. With musical backing from Dodd’s house band, the Skatalites, the Maytals’ close-harmony gospel singing ensured success, overshadowing Dodd’s other up-and-coming vocal group, The Wailers. After staying at Studio One for about two years, the group moved on to do sessions for Prince Buster before recording with Byron Lee in 1966. With Lee, the Maytals won the first-ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition with their original song Bam Bam. However, the group’s musical career was interrupted in late 1966 when Hibbert was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months whilst bailing a friend. He stated that he made up the number 54-46 when writing 54-46 That’s My Number about his time in jail.

Following Hibbert’s release from jail towards the end of 1967, the Maytals began working with producer Leslie Kong, a collaboration which yielded a string of hits throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. These included Do the Reggay, the first songs to use the word ‘reggay’ in a Jamaican recording; Pressure Drop; 54-46 That’s My Number the 1969 festival’s popular song winner, Sweet and Dandy and Monkey Man, the group’s first international hit in 1970.

By 1971, they had not only become the biggest act on the island, they were also (thanks to signing a recording contract with Chris Blackwell’s Island Records) international stars. In 1972, they won their third Jamaica festival popular song with Pomps and Pride. The group was also featured twice in the soundtrack to The Harder They Come, the 1972 film starring Jimmy Cliff, named as one of Vanity Fair’s Top 10 soundtracks of all time.

After Kong’s death in 1971, the group continued to record with Kong’s former sound engineer, Warrick Lyn. Their re-instated producer Byron Lee renamed them Toots & the Maytals. The group released three best-selling albums produced by Lyn and Blackwell of Island Records, and enjoyed international hits with Funky Kingston in 1973 and Reggae Got Soul in 1975. Following the release of Reggae Got Soul, Toots & the Maytals were invited to tour as the opening act for The Who during their 1975-76 North American tour.

Toots and the Maytals’ compositions would be given a second airing in 1978-80 during the reggae punk and ska revival period in the UK, when The Specials included Monkey Man on their 1979 debut album and The Clash covered Pressure Drop.

In 2005, the group released True Love, an album consisting of re-recorded versions of their earlier hits, alongside Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, No Doubt, Ben Harper, The Roots, and Shaggy. The album won the Grammy Award that year for best reggae album.

Toots & the Maytals hold the current record of number one hits in Jamaica, with a total of 31.