Max Romeo, Leading Voice in the Heyday of Roots Reggae, Dies at 80

Max Romeo, Leading Voice in the Heyday of Roots Reggae, Dies at 80

Max Romeo, a reggae singer whose earliest hits dripped with sexual innuendo, but who then switched to a soulful, politically engaged message that provided a soundtrack to the class struggles of 1970s Jamaica and made him a mainstay on the international tour circuit, died on April 11 outside Kingston, the capital of Jamaica. He was 80. Errol Michael Henry, a lawyer who represented Mr. Romeo, said the cause of his death, in a hospital, was heart c…

The demanding voice of Chase the Devil, later sampled on tracks by The Prodigy and Jay-Z, in addition to being a collaborator with the Rolling Stones, died on April 11. He was 80 years old.

‘Dread Locks Dread’: Revisiting Big Youth’s Punky Reggae Classic

He never had the global reach of Bob Marley, but when it comes to quality Jamaican reggae, Big Youth’s name should nonetheless be writ large. The man credited with coining the term “natty dread,” he’s still arguably his country’s most respected deejay and his classic 70s albums, Screaming Target and the immaculate Dread Locks Dread rank among his genre’s most essential platters. Born Manley Augustus Buchanan in April 1949, he worked as a diesel …