{"id":222504,"date":"2026-01-27T17:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/?p=222504"},"modified":"2026-01-27T17:56:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:56:45","slug":"legendary-jamaican-musician-sly-dunbar-has-passed-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackouthiphop.com\/blog\/legendary-jamaican-musician-sly-dunbar-has-passed-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Legendary Jamaican Musician Sly Dunbar Has Passed Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sad news has hit the musical community. Iconic Jamaican musician Sly Dunbar<\/strong> has passed away on January 26th, at the age of 73. One half of the producer duo Sly & Robbie<\/strong>, he was monumental to the reggae, dub, and dancehall movements. In the words of producer Brian Eno: “When you buy a reggae record, there’s a 90% chance the drummer is Sly Dunbar”. Throughout his career, he worked with numerous musical greats, such as Bob Marley & The Wailers<\/strong>, Michael Jackson<\/strong>, Grace Jones<\/strong>, Sade<\/strong>, Mick Jagger<\/strong>, and many more. He was awarded two Grammy Awards from 13 nominations.<\/p>\n

Sly was no stranger to Hip-Hop either. He worked with artists from the culture while Hip-Hop was still in its early days. Sly & Robbie’s 1989 album, “Silent Assassin” featured several prominent emcees, KRS-One<\/strong>, Queen Latifah<\/strong>, Young MC<\/strong>, and Willie D<\/strong> (Boogie Down Productions<\/strong>). The producer duo created some of the cleanest early hip-hop\/reggae fusions, such as their 1987 Shinehead<\/strong> collaboration, “Boops (Here To Go).” Sly & Robbie also appeared on the Fugees’<\/strong> legendary album, “The Score,” on which they’ve remixed the classic joint, “Fu-Gee-La.” Numerous artists sampled their work, including Pete Rock<\/strong>, LL Cool J<\/strong>, Public Enemy<\/strong>, Heavy D & The Boyz<\/strong>, Shyne<\/strong>, El-P<\/strong>, Dilated Peoples<\/strong>, and more.<\/p>\n

Sly Dunbar<\/strong> and Robbie Shakespeare<\/strong> first met in 1972. Since the mid 70s, they’ve released a massive amount of projects. Over one hundred full-length albums are credited to their name, with contributions to hundreds of other projects. In 1974, Sly & Robbie founded Taxi Records<\/em>, on which they’ve released music by Black Uhuru<\/strong>, Beenie Man<\/strong>, Chaka Demus & Pliers<\/strong>, and Ini Kamoze<\/strong>. Robbie Shakespeare has passed away in 2021.<\/p>\n

Sly Dunbar’s contribution to music was nothing short of exceptional.<\/strong><\/p>\n

May he rest in peace.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n