Toots Hibbert
| The Honourable Toots Hibbert |
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|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert |
| Born |
8 December 1942 May Pen, Jamaica |
| Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genres | Ska, rocksteady, reggae, roots reggae |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, bandleader |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Associated acts | Toots & the Maytals |
Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert, O.J. (born 8 December 1942) is a Jamaican singer and songwriter, known as the leader for the reggae and ska band Toots & the Maytals.
Hibbert was born in May Pen, Parish of Clarendon, Jamaica, the youngest of seven children, he grew up singing gospel music in a church choir. Hibbert moved to Kingston as an teenager in the early 1960s, met Raleigh Gordon and Jerry Matthias, and formed The Maytals. The Maytals became one of the more popular vocal groups in Jamaica in the 1960s, recording with producers Coxsone Dodd, Prince Buster, Byron Lee and Leslie Kong. This success included winning Jamaica's National Popular Song Contest three times with songs Hibbert wrote: in 1966 with "Bam Bam", 1969 with "Sweet and Dandy" and 1972 with "Pomps & Pride".
In 1966 he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for possession of marijuana. This experience provided the inspiration for one of his best known songs, "54-46 That's My Number".
Hibbert was one of the first artists to use the word reggae, in 1968's "Do the Reggay". Reggae is listed in the dictionary as:
reggae [reg-ey] (noun) - a style of Jamaican popular music blending blues, calypso, and rock-'n'-roll, characterized by a strong syncopated rhythm and lyrics of social protest. Origin of reggae: Jamaican English, respelling of reggay (introduced in the song “Do the Reggay” (1968) by Frederick “Toots” Hibbert)
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