Sugar Minott

Sugar Minott applied his golden voice to various reggae styles—several of which he pioneered—over a prolific career that begat some 60 albums and hundreds of singles. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1956, Minott got his start as a DJ and toaster for local sound systems before joining the roots-rocking African Brothers in 1969. He established the dancehall practice of recording new songs over old tracks for Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s Studio One label, delivering his first hit, “Vanity” (which sampled Alton Ellis’ “I’m Just a Guy”), and debut album, Live Loving, in 1978. The 1980 album Roots Lovers and 1981’s slow-grooving “Good Thing Going,” a Michael Jackson cover that remains his signature hit, made him a lovers-rock star. Minott later became a techno-reggae innovator alongside rhythm twins Sly & Robbie, with whom he essentially launched the electronic ragga subgenre via 1984’s “Rub-A-Dub Sound.” Minott also believed in paying it forward. With his Youth Promotion sound system and Black Roots label, he brought up future stars such as Garnett Silk and Tony Rebel throughout the ’80s. Minott remained a tenacious presence, regularly dropping gems like the 1988 concept album African Soldier and 1991’s adventurous Happy Together, until his death in 2010.