KINGSTON, Jamaica — The body of reggae legend Toots Hibbert was not interred in the Dovecot Memorial Park in Spanish Town, St Catherine, this afternoon as planned, because his relatives were unable to find the burial order.

The singer’s body was returned to Perry’s Funeral Home in Spanish Town, where the thanksgiving service was held earlier in the day.

No burial can take place without a burial order.

“It’s unfortunate… me cyaan believe it,” said one mourner, who wished not to be identified. “I hope dem find it and him can bury tomorrow.”

Toots Hibbert is frontman for veteran band Toots and the Maytals. He died of COVID-19 complications on September 11.

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

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.

Brian Bonitto