Dub and reggae music icon Lee “Scratch” Perry died on Sunday at a hospital in Lucea, Jamaica, at the age of 85.
Though a cause of death has yet to be confirmed Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness shared the sad news in a series of tweets on Sunday, writing:
My deep condolences to the family, friends, and fans of legendary record producer and singer, Rainford Hugh Perry OD, affectionately known as “Lee Scratch” Perry. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s’ development of dub music with his early adoption of studio effects to create new instrumentals of existing reggae tracks. He has worked with and produced for various artists, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Congos, Adrian Sherwood, the Beastie Boys, and many others. Undoubtedly, Lee Scratch Perry will always be remembered for his sterling contribution to the music fraternity. May his soul Rest In Peace.”
Rainford Hugh Perry, also known as Lee Perry, was born on March 20, 1936, in Kendal, Hanover Parish, in northwestern Jamaica. Years after dropping out of school in his teens, Perry left for Kingston in 1960 where he would begin his ascent to musical stardom. Largely thought of as pioneer of reggae music and originator of dub, Perry’s band the Upsetters and innovation Black Ark studio sound helped usher the Jamaican sound and rastafarian lifestyle into the mainstream.
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More on his career, per Variety:
Active professionally from 1961 to the end of his days, Perry was known internationally by his nicknames “Scratch” (drawn from “Chicken Scratch,” the title of an early song cut for Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s Studio One label) and “the Upsetter” (springing off the 1967 single “I Am the Upsetter,” a stinging slap at his former boss Dodd).
After a long apprenticeship working for Dodd and the prominent producer Joe Gibbs, Perry stepped out on his own in 1968. One of the first releases on his fledgling label Upset (later Upsetter) was “People Funny Boy.” The song, a sharp put-down of Gibbs, rode a slow, heavily accented rhythm (sparked by music Perry heard at a local “Pocomania” church) that was new to the island’s popular music, then still dominated by the up-tempo sounds of ska and rocksteady. A local sensation that reached the charts in England after its release there by Trojan Records, it is considered one of the very first reggae recordings.
