KINGSTON, Jamaica— A private funeral service for legendary reggae pioneer Frederick “Toots” Hibbert is scheduled for Perry’s Funeral Home in Spanish Town, St Catherine tomorrow at 11:00 am. Due to restrictions brought on COVID-19, only a few close family members will be in attendance.

Interment is slated to follow in the Dovecot Memorial Park in St Catherine.

Hibbert, 77, was frontman for veteran band Toots and the Maytals. He died of respiratory complications brought on by COVID-19 at the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew on Friday, September 11.

Hibbert was one of the 10 finalists in the recently concluded Jamaica Festival Song Competition — a contest he has won three times.

Still actively touring, he recently released his latest album, Got To Be Tough, on August 28.

Formed in the 1960s, his band Toots and the Maytals helped popularise reggae music. The group’s 1968 single Do The Reggay was the first song to use the word “reggae”, naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience.

The group’s popular songs include Monkey Man, Sweet And Dandy, Bam Bam and Pomps And Pride.

In 2005, the group won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album with True Love. Seven years later, he was awarded the Order of Distinction for his contribution to Jamaica’s music.

Brian Bonitto