Ernest Wilson, who first emerged as a member of ska duo The Clarendonians during the early 1960s, has died. His son Michael Wilson told the Jamaica Observer that he passed away Tuesday morning at Kingston Public Hospital at age 69.

He did not give a cause of death but said his father had health challenges for several years.

Wilson was a talented singer and musician whose solo career produced hits such as Undying Love, Money Worries, Storybook Children, Let Love Be (Your Right Hand Man), and I Know Myself. With The Clarendonians (which included Peter Austin), he had a number of hits at Studio One including You Can’t be Happy, Rudie Gone A Jail, Shu Be-Do, Rudie Bam Bam, and You Won’t See Me.

Freddie McGregor, his lifelong friend, described Wilson as “a brother, mi love Ernest like dat.”

He told the Observer that they last saw each other in October when McGregor was in Jamaica.

“Ernest teach mi how fi play instruments, how fi harmonise, just about everything,” said McGregor, who covered Undying Love in the 1990s. He pointed to Money Worries and Storybook Children as his favourite songs Wilson recorded at Studio One.

Written by Harold Butler and released in 1976, Let True Love Be (Your Right On Man) captured Wilson at the peak of his creative powers. According to McGregor, “It is the greatest slow song ever recorded in Jamaica.”

Wilson, Austin and McGregor are from Clarendon. Their families were close and, as McGregor tells it, they travelled to Kingston in 1961 and ended up at Studio One, which was run by producer Clement “Coxson” Dodd.

The Clarendonians were one of the top groups in the ska era, with fans impressed by the youthful Wilson’s vocal range. In a 2017 interview with the Jamaica Observ er, he reflected on that period.

“It was my first experience; I was glad. It put me where I am today,” he said.

Ernest Wilson is survived by five children (four sons and a daughter). Two sons pre-deceased him.