Reggae singer Jimmy Riley dies at the age of 68

Jamaican musician was the father of singer Tarrus Riley

Jamaican singer Jimmy Riley has passed away at the age of 68.

Riley passed away in New York where he was undergoing treatment for cancer, Billboard confirms.

The ska/reggae musician (born Martin Norman Riley) was a member of The Sensations and The Uniques in a career that spanned six decades.

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Riley went solo in 1969, with his biggest hit coming in the 1980s when he worked with Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare on ‘Love and Devotion’. The song was his Number One single in Jamaica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6j9RLyxOGs

Riley was the father of contemporary reggae singer Tarrus Riley. The pair collaborated on music together numerous times. Tarrus appeared on his father’s final record, 2013’s ‘Contradiction’.

“My father introduced me to music, brought me into recording studios long before I could even talk; I was around all the great Jamaican musicians and singers because of him,” Tarrus told Billboard in a 2014 interview.

“Thanks to everyone for their prayers and condolences,” Tarrus wrote on Facebook following Riley’s passing.

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