{"id":5905,"date":"2026-01-30T15:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/steel-pulse-pays-tribute-to-sly-dunbar-jamaicas-greatest-drummer\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T15:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T15:37:15","slug":"steel-pulse-pays-tribute-to-sly-dunbar-jamaicas-greatest-drummer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/steel-pulse-pays-tribute-to-sly-dunbar-jamaicas-greatest-drummer\/","title":{"rendered":"Steel Pulse pays tribute to Sly Dunbar, Jamaica\u2019s greatest drummer"},"content":{"rendered":"
The British-based reggae band Steel Pulse has paid tribute to Sly Dunbar, considered Jamaica\u2019s \u201cgreatest drummer,\u201d who died at his home in Jamaica Monday morning, Jan. 26. He was 73.<\/div>\n
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\u201cYour passing cuts deep, not just as a musician, but as a brother whose heartbeat helped shape the very pulse of reggae music,\u201d said Steel Pulse\u2019s David R. Hinds in a social media post. \u201cFrom the early days, your drums spoke a language older than words. They carried the wisdom of the ancestors, the struggle of the people, and the joy that refuses to die.<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou didn\u2019t just keep time \u2014 you taught the world how one could travel without losing his soul,\u201d he added. \u201c\u2019Sly & Robbie\u2019 was more than a rhythm section; they became a foundation, a force, a reminder that innovation and tradition can walk together in truth.<\/div>\n
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\u201cEvery kick, every snare, every space he left \u2014 that was knowledge, that was discipline, that was spirit,\u201d Hinds continued. \u201cOn this journey, we shared more than stages and studios; we shared purpose. The belief that music must mean something, must stand for something, must lift people higher than where they are standing.\u201d<\/div>\n
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He said Dunbar\u2019s drums \u201calways carried that mission \u2014 steady; innovative; uncompromising.
\n\u201cToday, the silence feels heavy,\u201d Hinds said. \u201cBut there is no silence where Sly Dunbar is concerned. His rhythms live on in the blood of reggae, in every young drummer who finds courage through his patterns, in every song that still moves the world forward.<\/div>\n
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\u201cRest well, brother,\u201d he added. \u201cGive thanks for your life, your strength, your contribution. You have done your work with honor. The beat shall continue \u2014 because of you. RIP, RIP.\u201d
\nSimply Red, the British pop and soul band, also called Dunbar, \u201cJamaica\u2019s greatest drummer.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cI liked him as a person and admired him enormously as a musician,\u201d said one of Simple Red\u2019s musicians in a Facebook post. \u201cI have so many of his recordings. It was an honor and a joy to work with him and Robbie Shakespeare.
\nHe added, \u201cSly and Robbie remain Jamaica\u2019s greatest rhythm section.\u201d<\/div>\n
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According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, Lowell Fillmore \u201cSly\u201d Dunbar (born May 10, 1952; died Jan. 26, 2026) was \u201ca Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie.\u201d<\/div>\n

Born in Kingston on May 10, 1952, drummer Sly Dunbar began playing music at age 15 and made his first recording appearance on Dave and Ansell Collins\u2019 Double Barrel<\/em>. He later joined the band Skin, Flesh and Bones, where he met bassist Robbie Shakespeare in 1972, forming a partnership that became one of reggae\u2019s most influential duos. The pair worked closely with Peter Tosh through 1981, recording five albums, and in 1980 launched Taxi Records, which has produced successful releases by major artists including Black Uhuru, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Ini Kamoze, Beenie Man, and Red Dragon.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia said Dunbar played drums on several noteworthy tracks produced by Lee Perry, including \u201cNight Doctor\u201d, Junior Murvin\u2019s \u201cPolice and Thieves\u201d, and Bob Marley\u2019s \u201cPunky Reggae Party\u201d 12″ track (\u201calthough the track was produced by Perry, Dunbar\u2019s drum track was actually recorded at Joe Gibbs Duhaney Park studio\u201d).
\nSly and Robbie also contributed to Bob Dylan\u2019s Infidels and Empire Burlesque albums, according to Wikipedia.<\/div>\n
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It said other sessions included their appearances on three Grace Jones albums and work with Herbie Hancock, Joe Cocker, Serge Gainsbourg, and the Rolling Stones.
\nIn 2008, Wikipedia said Dunbar collaborated with the Jamaican percussionist Larry McDonald on McDonald\u2019s debut album Drumquestra.<\/div>\n
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It said Dunbar appeared in the 2011 documentary Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals, which was featured on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and described as \u201cThe untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Wikipedia said Dunbar was a 13-time GRAMMY nominee.<\/div>\n
It said he received two GRAMMY awards: the 1985 GRAMMY for Best Reggae Recording for the Black Uhuru album Anthem, for which Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare were producers, and one for the 1999 Best Reggae Album GRAMMY award for the Sly & Robbie album entitled Friends.<\/div>\n
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The Jamaica Gleaner described Dunbar as a \u201cdrummer extraordinaire and co-founder of the revolutionary Taxi Records label.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cAbout 7 o\u2019clock this morning, I went to wake him up, and he wasn\u2019t responding,\u201d Dunbar\u2019s wife, Thelma, told the publication. \u201cI called the doctor, and that was the news.\u201d
\nAccording to the paper, Dunbar had been ill for some time and was being treated by doctors both at home and overseas.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British-based reggae band Steel Pulse has paid tribute to Sly Dunbar, considered Jamaica\u2019s \u201cgreatest drummer,\u201d who died at his home in Jamaica Monday morning, Jan. 26. He was 73. \u201cYour passing cuts deep, not just as a musician, but as a brother whose heartbeat helped shape the very pulse of reggae music,\u201d said Steel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}