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2008 the year of Rememberance: Who Died?

Writer : Caribbean E-Magazine on Sunday, January 4, 2009 | 2:43 PM

Joe Gibbs, best known for producing a string of hit records by Dennis Brown and Culture during the 1970s, died from a heart attack in February. He was 65.

Singer/producer/broadcaster Michael 'Mikey Dread' Campbell, who hosted the groundbreaking Dread At The Controls radio show on the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation in the late 1970s, died from complications of a brain tumour in March, in Connecticut. He was 54.

Cedella Booker, mother of reggae legend Bob Marley, died of natural causes in April at her South Florida home. She was 81 years old.

Singer Roy Shirley, the 'High Priest' of Reggae, died in July in London. He was 64.

Sculptor/artist Christopher Gonzalez died from cancer in August at age 65. His provocative body of work included the bronze statue of Bob Marley, which was rejected by the Jamaican government.

Trumpeter Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore, founding member of The Skatalites, succumbed to cancer in August at age 69.

Shirley Campbell, a founding member of the National Dance Theatre Company, passed away in Miami in August.

Ermine Bramwell, better known in music circles as Cherry Green, who was a member of the original Wailers, along with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, died in September in Miami, Florida.

Alton Ellis, the soulful singer largely responsible for making the rocksteady beat famous, died in October in London at age 70 after a year-long battle with cancer. Girl I've Got a Date and Dancecrasher are just two of his many hit songs.

Bandleader Byron Lee also died from cancer, in November. He led The Dragonnaires band for 50 years, making hit records and kept the calypso and soca sound alive in Jamaica.

Edward 'Baby G' Gordon, a member of The Flames, Alton Ellis' backup group, died in November from complications related to diabetes. He was 70 years old.

Dotlyn Joyce Campbell, founding member of the National Dance Theatre Company and older sister of Shirley Campbell, died in November.

Whylie Lopez, a pianist and singer on the Kingston concert circuit during the 1940s and 1950s, died in November in Grand Cayman. He was 96 years old.
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