Lloyd Knibb | Jamaican drummer, 80
Lloyd Knibb, 80, an influential Jamaican drummer who played with the Skatalites and helped develop the ska beat, has died, his wife said Friday.
Lloyd Knibb, 80, an influential Jamaican drummer who played with the Skatalites and helped develop the ska beat, has died, his wife said Friday.
Enid Knibb said her husband died from liver cancer late Thursday.
He had been receiving treatment in the United States but returned to Jamaica this week, she said.
Mr. Knibb was an original member of the Skatalites, a Jamaican ska and reggae band created in 1964. His frenetic style was one of the band's hallmarks and is best heard on songs including "Guns of Navarone" and "Freedom Sounds."
The Skatalites broke up in the 1960s but reunited two decades later in New York. Two of their albums, Hip Bop Ska and Greetings from Skamania, were nominated for Grammy Awards in the 1990s.
- AP