Dear Editor,

With profound sadness, the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts joins the nation and the global creative community in mourning the passing of master musician Stephen “Cat” Coore. The world has lost a rare talent and ambassador of Jamaican culture whose life’s work both expanded the possibilities of Jamaican music and the reach of Jamaican imagination.

Cat belonged to that generation of cultural pioneers who refused limitation. He did not accept that reggae had fixed borders, textures, or futures. Through his musicianship, his discipline, and his daring, he insisted that our Jamaican music could carry orchestral depth, harmonic richness, and global conversation without losing its roots. He helped us speak to the world in new musical languages while remaining unmistakably “tallawah” in spirit.

As a founding member and long-serving musical director of Third World, his guiding contribution shaped a movement. Over decades, Third World’s music travelled continents, concert halls, and airwaves, carrying stories of Caribbean identity, joy, struggle, and triumph. Cat’s hands and mind were at the centre of that journey. His guitar spoke with clarity. His cello with longing. Together they reminded audiences that Jamaican creativity holds sophistication, intellect, and soul in equal measure. He was even named in the top 100 of the world’s 250 greatest guitarists of all time in
Rolling Stone magazine in 2023.

Our College holds a special reverence for this legacy. Third World was born from the creative brotherhood of its members Cat and Kingsley Michael “Ibo” Cooper, who left their previous band, Inner Circle, to start Third World together. Ibo served this institution for over two decades as a lecturer, mentor, and cultural guide. Similarly, Cat stood alongside that history, sharing his knowledge to eager, up-and-coming young musicians in the industry over the years. Though they eventually took different forms, as servants of reggae and Jamaican culture, their shared vision bridged stage and academy, tradition and experiment, Kingston and the world.

While Cat’s honours reflected public gratitude, his true reward is in the generations of musicians, composers and cultural workers who saw and still see possibility through his genre-blending, risk-taking example which permanently shifted the form of reggae music.

At Edna Manley College, we understand that culture is not inherited by chance. It is nurtured by those who choose to devote their lives to the craft, to excellence, and in service of music. Cat lived by that choice every day of his life, and though his passing has shaken the landscape, his compositions, recordings, and influence remain enduring teachers.

We extend condolence to his family, his band brothers, his colleagues, and all who found inspiration in his sound. May we honour Cat by continuing to create boldly, learn deeply, and know that Jamaican artistry belongs on every stage where human expression is celebrated.

Dorrett R Campbell

Interim principal

Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts