Grammy-nominated producer Hopeton Hibbert, the eldest son of reggae legend Toots Hibbert, has died. He had been battling diabetes and was ailing for some time.

Doreen Hibbert, the wife of the late Toots Hibbert, confirmed the eldest son’s death, saying she heard that he passed away on Wednesday.

“He was in his 60s when he died,” Doreen said.

A talented musician, Hibbert became a recluse later in his life as he battled diabetes.

“They were going to amputate his legs the day before yesterday but he passed,” a family friend told Observer Online.

Hopeton was a talented bass player who played with Skool Band for years on several Reggae Sunsplash tours. After leaving the Skool band, he toured with Morgan Heritage band, as the Morgan’s were close friends of the Toots Hibbert family.

He also toured extensively with his father Toots Hibbert, and played in a band with double platinum recording artiste Peter Blakely, touring Australia for over four months, in the early 1990s.

It is reported that Hopeton also played the guitar but he was a virtuoso on the bass.

“He was an excellent bass player. W used to play with Damian Marley and Julian when they were young men just coming up. We went with Julian to Brazil when he was just 18 years old. We played a lot with Julian who lived in Florida at the time, and we used to tour with him a lot, Hopeton and myself. Skool used to tour with Mutabaruka and we did the Reggae Sunsplash tour, US, and Japan,” musician Desi Jones, who was the best man at Hibbert’s wedding years ago, said.

He was Grammy nominated for the albums, ‘Reggae Got Soul’ and ‘Unplugged on Strawberry Hill’.

— Claude Mills