{"id":889894,"date":"2026-02-03T03:17:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T09:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/sly-dunbar-sly-and-robbie-reggae-drummer-dead-at-73\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T03:17:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T09:17:05","slug":"sly-dunbar-sly-and-robbie-reggae-drummer-dead-at-73","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/03\/sly-dunbar-sly-and-robbie-reggae-drummer-dead-at-73\/","title":{"rendered":"Sly Dunbar, Sly and Robbie reggae drummer, dead at 73"},"content":{"rendered":"

Music <\/p>\n

\n

Lowell \u201cSly\u201d Dunbar, the Jamaican drummer for the former reggae group Sly & Robbie, has died. He was 73. <\/p>\n

Dunbar\u2019s wife, Thelma, confirmed the news to Jamaican newspaper\u00a0The Gleaner<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout seven o\u2019clock this morning I went to wake him up and he wasn\u2019t responding, I called the doctor and that was the news,\u201d Thelma said, though she didn\u2019t confirm the cause of death.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar at the Jazz Cafe in London in June 2005. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar performing in 2000. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYesterday was such a good day for him,\u201d Thelma continued. \u201cHe had friends come over to visit him and we all had such a good time. He ate well yesterday \u2026 sometimes he\u2019s not into food. I knew he was sick \u2026 but I didn\u2019t know that he was this sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunbar\u2019s daughter, Natasha, told TMZ<\/a> the musician passed away at his home in Kingston, Jamaica. Like Thelma, Natasha also did not disclose the cause of death.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one half of Sly & Robbie, Sly helped shape the sound of reggae and Jamaican music for generations. His extraordinary talent, innovation, and lasting contributions will never be forgotten,\u201d read a statement from the family, per TMZ. \u201cSly\u2019s music, spirit, and legacy touched people around the world, and we are deeply grateful for the love and support during this difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare in London in July 1988. Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dunbar began his music career at age 15 when he was in a band called The Yardbrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1972, he met bass guitarist Robbie Shakespeare and they formed the rhythm section\u00a0and production group Sly and Robbie which shot them into stardom.<\/p>\n

The duo played reggae hits by Black Uhuru, Jimmy Cliff, and Peter Tosh. They had their breakthrough on The Mighty Diamonds\u2019 1976 album \u201cRight Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sly and Robbie also recorded and produced with Madonna, Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones, Yoko Ono, Jackson Browne, Sinead O\u2019Connor, Carly Simon and No Doubt.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly and Robbie posing in London in 1988. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar playing the drums. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar playing the drums in the United Kingdom. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They created their own\u00a0Taxi Records label and released multiple albums of their own, as well, including 1985\u2019s \u201cLanguage Barrier,\u201d 1987\u2019s \u201cRhythm Killers\u201d and 2006\u2019s \u201cRhythm Doubles,\u201d which was nominated for Best Reggae Album at the 2007 Grammy Awards.<\/p>\n

In total, the pair were nominated for 13 Grammys and won twice, for Best Reggae Album for \u201cFriends\u201d in 1998 and Best Reggae Recording for Black Uhuru\u2019s album \u201cAnthem\u201d in 1984.<\/p>\n

Sly and Robbie remained an active group until Shakespeare\u2019s death in 2021 at age 68.<\/p>\n

Dunbar spoke about admiring his music partner the year before Shakespeare died.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the whole body of the bass, the sound and the way it flowed against the drummer,\u201d Dunbar told Rolling Stone <\/a>in 2020.\u00a0\u201cAt a certain part of a tune he\u2019d play like three different lines, change the line on the bridge and the verses after that, and get four different lines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Robbie Shakespeare, Keith Richards, Sly Dunbar. Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Portrait of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. Corbis\/VCG via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"music<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Sly Dunbar performs in London in May 2009. Redferns<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the later years of his career, Dunbar co-wrote the hit 2014 Omni song \u201cCheerleader.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also appeared in the 2021 \u201cReggae Got Soul: The Story of\u00a0Toots and the Maytals\u201d where he was recognized for his influence on reggae music. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music Lowell \u201cSly\u201d Dunbar, the Jamaican drummer for the former reggae group Sly & Robbie, has died. He was 73. Dunbar\u2019s wife, Thelma, confirmed the news to Jamaican newspaper\u00a0The Gleaner on Monday. \u201cAbout seven o\u2019clock this morning I went to wake him up and he wasn\u2019t responding, I called the doctor and that was the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":889895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[131522],"class_list":["post-889894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business-news","tag-podcast-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}