“He will always be remembered for his exemplary contribution to the Brotherhood of Music. May his soul rest in peace,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a message posted on the social network Twitter.
The Jamaica Observer reported that Berry died at Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucia, near where he was born. The cause of death was not provided.
The Jamaican Prime Minister cited the work of artist, born Rainford Hugh Perry, with artists such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Kongos, Adrian Sherwood and American Beast Boys.
Over the course of more than sixty years of his career, born artist Rainford Hugh Perry has helped establish reggae as a musical style and has produced hundreds of recordings for artists such as Max Romeo, Junior Murvin, Bob Marley, The Wailers or The Congos.
He has collaborated with many other non-Jamaican artists such as American Beastie Boys, The Clash, British producer Adrian Sherwood or British electronics group The Orb.
Under his own name or with his band The Upsetters, he released dozens of recordings distinct to his production style, with studio techniques he devised that gave character to an entire subgenre of reggae known as dub, based on remixes or instrumental reinterpretations. Existing topics.
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards declared to Rolling Stone magazine in 2010 that Perry is the “Salvador Dali of Music.”
“It is a mystery,” said the British musician. “The whole world is his instrument. He must indeed be heard.”
Hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa also mentioned that it was Perry’s voice that inspired the creators of the genre.
Born in rural Jamaica, Perry claimed to come from a poor family and stated in a 1984 interview with British music weekly New Musical Express that when he left school, “there was nothing else to do but work in the fields”.
“It was very hard work. I didn’t like it. And I started playing dominoes. With that, I trained my mind and learned to read other people’s minds, which proved to be forever useful to me,” said the musician, who has worked several times in Portugal during the past two decades.
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