Toots Hibbert, the man who coined the word reggae, passes away at 77

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Jamaican reggae legend Frederick Nathaniel “Toots” Hibbert has died at age 77, his band Toots and The Maytals announced.

Toots Hibbert death details

Toots Hibbert “passed away peacefully” in Jamaica “surrounded by his family” at the University Hospital of the West Indies late Friday, the Twitter statement said.

While the cause of his death was not revealed, the band said on September 3 that Hibbert had been taken to intensive care and was waiting to receive the results of a coronavirus test.

“The family and his management team would like to thank the medical teams and professionals for their care and diligence, and ask that you respect their privacy during their time of grief,” Saturday’s statement said.

Music career

Hibbert, dubbed the “father of reggae”, was the first artist to use the word reggae on a record, on the 1968 single “Do the Reggay” by his group, which was originally billed simply as the Maytals.

The word reggae

To some, it was an accidental coinage.

Mr. Hibbert has said he was thinking of “streggae,” a local slang for a “raggedy” woman but reggae stuck, branding the new sound that would become Jamaica’s greatest cultural phenomen.

While Mr. Hibbert never achieved the same level of global success as Bob Marley, he was extremely popular in Jamaica and was highly respected for his  body of work that helped establish some of reggae’s fundamentals.

About Toots and The Maytals’

Toots and The Maytals’ hits include “Pressure Drop,” “Monkey Man” and “Do The Reggay.”

Toots Hibbert Legacy

Hibbert is survived by his wife of 39 years and his seven of eight children.