When Rolling Stone magazine named Stephen “Cat” Coore at #91 in its 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time in October 2023 it came as no surprise to his long-time admirers, which include Wayne Armond, who felt it was overdue recognition for the co-founder of Third World.

Coore died in Kingston on January 18 at age 69.

Armond, guitarist with Chalice, remembers showing Coore his first chords on the guitar when he was 13 years old.

“When we [fellow guitarist Paul Drysdale] start teach him, because he could read music he just took it from there. In six months, he was running rings around us,” Armond told the Jamaica Observer.

Coore’s Carlos Santana-inspired licks drove many of Third World’s classic songs such as Always Around, Now That We Found Love, Try Jah Love, Jah Glory, and Talk To Me.

Armond told the Observer that the Mexican maestro was his biggest influence.

“He could play just about every Santana song by the time he was 15. Cat brought that element of rock music to reggae,” he noted.

The affable Coore was the third of three sons born to David Coore, a respected lawyer who became Jamaica’s deputy prime minister and finance minister. His mother was Rita Coore, a respected music teacher from Trinidad and Tobago.

Initially, he was a cellist, who played at numerous recitals and for Princess Anne when she visited Jamaica in 1966. Two years later, he joined the Inner Circle band as a guitarist.

In 1973, Coore and keyboardist Michael “Ibo” Cooper formed Third World, which cut its teeth playing in clubs and hotels, before releasing a critically acclaimed début album on Island Records in 1976.

Third World underwent numerous personnel changes, including the departures of Cooper and drummer Willie Stewart in 1997. Coore continued to helm the band which consistently toured Europe and North America.

As Third World celebrated its 46th anniversary in 2019, Coore told the Observer that the band no longer cared about making hit singles.

“Mi nuh really business wid dat. Third World has done so much at this point it’s just more music and more love,” he said.

Coore is the seventh Third World member to die in 11 years. He was preceded by lead singer Bunny Rugs (2014), percussionist Irvin “Carrot” Jarrett (2018), Cooper (2023), drummer Cornel Marshall (2024), guitarist Rupert Bent, and original lead vocalist Prilly Hamilton in 2025.

He was honoured with the Order of Distinction in 2005 by the Jamaican Government.

Minister of Entertainment and Culture Olivia “Babsy” Grange, in offering tribute, said: “Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore was a unique talent… His passing is a tremendous loss… We will miss ‘Cat’ Coore’s presence, but there is no doubt that his legacy will live on and continue to inspire current and future generations of musicians.”

He was pre-deceased by his brothers Michael and Ivan and is survived by his wife Lisa; children Shiah, Kanna, Stephen, and Ashley; along with grandchildren.

— Howard Campbell

ARMOND…he could play just about every Santana song by the time he was 15.