Singer Jimmy Riley lost his battle with cancer in New York Wednesday morning. He was 61.

Saxophonist and family friend Dean Fraser confirmed the singer’s death.

“It was in hospital. He died about 1:00 am,” Fraser told Splash.

Riley, whose given name is Martin James Ziggy Norman Riley, is the father of singer Tarrus Riley. He was diagnosed with bone cancer two years ago and had been receiving treatment in the United States.

Meanwhile, tributes have come in for the soulful vocalist who started his career in the late 1960s as a member of harmony groups, the Sensations and Uniques.

Veteran producer Willie Lindo met Riley during that period. He remembers him as a jovial person.

“Jimmy… a mi good friend that. He’s a nice bredren… Is a man that nutten nuh bother him. He had a positive thing about him that you could feed off,” said Lindo.

He last spoke with Riley in February.

“Even when wi call him inna di hospital, him a give Joke.”

Lindo worked with Riley in September last year.

“He recorded a cover of Lay Lady Lay (originally done by Bob Dylan). Him sing strong and good. And mi think him would pull through,” he said.

Born in Jones Town, Riley grew up in Waterhouse. After recording with the Sensations and Uniques, he went solo and announced himself in 1979 with Love And Devotion and My Woman’s Love, both produced by Sly and Robbie.

Riley had several hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including Bang Bang, Black Mother Prays and It’s Gonna Get Rough.

He had a hit with Tarrus, Pull Up Selector, in 2007. Contradiction, his last album was released in 2013.