Tribute are pouring in for veteran Jamaican keyboardist Tyrone Downie, who rose to prominence as a member of Bob Marley and The Wailers. Downie, who was reportedly ailing, handed absent last Saturday at clinic in Jamaica, his companion, Bernadine Simpson, advised The Gleaner. He was 66.
“He was feeling unwell Saturday evening [November 5] and we took him to the clinic. He died in Jamaica,” Simpson shared.
Each household and buddies in the audio market are reeling from his unexpected passing.
“I spoke to him 3 weeks ago and he sounded fine. He was the typical Tyrone,” veteran keyboard participant Robbie Lyn reported. “Tyrone referred to as me the working day just after the Karen Smith tribute live performance in Oct and explained to me that he attended, and requested how I was not there.”
Lyn stated he been given a phone from Simpson on Sunday early morning advising him of Downie’s demise.
“Tyrone and I were being really, very excellent good friends. We came through the tunes business alongside one another in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He was young than me, but he started out in the business enterprise incredibly youthful … from he was still likely to Kingston University. Tyrone manufactured an impact due to the fact of his terrific manner. His superior vibes attracted a whole lot individuals to him. When Tyrone arrived back to Jamaica soon after residing in France for several decades, I am the one particular who built a keyboard available for him to use,” Lyn shared.
He described his close friend as a “great, impressive, proficient musician” whose voice can also be listened to as a backup singer on some of Bob Marley’s recordings.
“Tyrone was very influential and also did the preparations for some of the music. He will surely be skipped. This is unhappy, unfortunate, unhappy,” Lyn mentioned.
Reggae musician and bass participant extraordinaire Jackie Jackson shared that he saw Tyrone Downie at the tribute live performance for his late spouse, Karen Smith, a few months ago.
“I was sitting down outside the house and he arrived above to me and explained. ‘Mi just can’t go proper below and really don’t occur above come hail yuh up.’ He was the normal Tyrone … walk quick and discuss quickly. Tyrone was usually slim, but I recognized that he looked a bit little, but that was the only difference,” Jackson reported.
He recalled that it was although Downie was a member of his band, the Caribs, that Bob Marley “came and took him”.
“One night time we wre participating in at the Jonkanoo Lounge and in walked Bob and ‘Skill’ Cole. But I did not tek it as anything at all, for the reason that hundreds of men and women use to go via Jonkanoo. I noticed Tyrone and Talent chatting and I figured they had been talking soccer. But the subsequent week, Tyrone claimed he needed to chat to me and that’s when he instructed me that Bob wanted him to participate in with the Wailers. I was unfortunate to see him go, but I was pleased for him. If a gentleman like Bob come and want yuh to engage in for him, yuh can’t seh ‘no’,” Jackson reasoned.
He agreed with Lyn that Downie’s passing is a huge loss for the new music sector and provided his condolences to the loved ones.
Veeran scheduling agent, artiste supervisor and author Copeland Forbes mentioned that he “felt his still left eye jumping from Saturday evening” and knew that he was heading to get bad information. That proved legitimate when he was told early Sunday morning that Downie experienced handed.
“Tyrone Downie was defintely amongst the greats. The information was notably surprising for me due to the fact I experienced just seen some thing about him on Facebook and was fininshing up my cooking to go and reply when I got the simply call that he experienced died. I was shocked, for the reason that it’s not like we heard that Tyrone was unwell or nearly anything,” Forbes reported.
Downie joined The Wailers in the mid-1970s, earning his recording début with the band on Rastaman Vibration.
He has also performed with The Abyssinians, Beenie Guy, Black Uhuru, Buju Banton, Peter Tosh, Junior Reid, Tom Tom Club, Ian Dury, Burning Spear, Metal Pulse, Alpha Blondy, Tiken Jah Fakoly, and Sly & Robbie.
Although residing in France, he was a member of the touring band of Youssou N’Dour, whose album Don’t forget he generated.
In 1983, Grace Jones unveiled the single My Jamaican Male, and, in accordance to his bio, unknown to Downie, he (although he was in a marriage and not romantically connected to Jones) was the topic of the track.
Downie launched the solo album Organ-D in 2001.
Tyrone Downie was the father of nine children, 7 grandchildren and two wonderful-grandchildren.
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