Tyrone Downie, keyboardist of legendary reggae band, Bob Marley And The Wailers, has reportedly died at age 66.
According to The Huffington Post, The musician died at University Hospital Of The West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica on Nov. 5. He reportedly passed away after “feeling ill,” his partner Bernadine Simpson confirmed to the Jamaica Gleaner. The exact cause of death, however, is currently unknown.
“We are saddened to learn of the passing of Wailers keyboardist, Tyrone Downie,” the Marley-founded Tuff Gong Studio’s social media team tweeted on Nov. 7. “Tyrone joined The Wailers just before the age of 20, making his recording début with the band on Rastaman Vibration. We are blessed to count him as a member of the Tuff Gong Family.”
We are saddened to learn of the passing of Wailers keyboardist, Tyrone Downie. Tyrone joined The Wailers just before the age of 20, making his recording début with the band on Rastaman Vibration. We are blessed to count him as a member of the Tuff Gong Family. pic.twitter.com/RFhmSJXGHb
— Tuff Gong (@TuffGongINTL) November 7, 2022
Downie was born in Jamaica on May 20, 1956 and later studied at Kingston College where he performed in the school’s chapel choir, Billboard reported. After performing with the choir, he played in the group Impact All Stars.
The musician eventually joined the Wailers in 1974–nearly 10 years after it was formed by Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. He first contributed to Rastaman Vibration in 1976, the group’s highest-charting album. He also contributed to some of The Wailers most famous songs, “Redemption Song” and “Three Little Birds,” which were both released in 1980–two years after Marley’s death in 1981 at just 36-years-old.
Downie continued playing with the band and contributed to their following five studio albums: Exodus (1977), Kaya (1978) Survival (1979), Uprising (1980) and Confrontation (1983). After The Wailers’ final album, members of the group have since reunited for several performances.
The keyboardist was also reportedly the subject of legendary model, singer, and actress Grace Jones’ 1983 track “My Jamaican Guy.” In 2010, she revealed that he was the inspiration behind the song to The Guardian.
“I couldn’t have him because he was with somebody else. He was a beautiful guy. He doesn’t even know I wrote it about him,” she said. “Well, he’ll know now.”
Downie released his only solo album, Organ-D in 2001.
