Reggae pioneer Derrick Harriott dies at 87
Derrick Harriott, the pioneering Jamaican singer, songwriter and record producer whose distinctive tenor and powerful falsetto helped define successive eras of the island’s popular music, died at home early Saturday morning. He was 87. Dorrel Mattocks, operator of the Derrick Harriott Music Store at Twin Gates Plaza in St Andrew, confirmed the veteran musician’s death to The Sunday Gleaner, saying Harriott had been ill and in and out of hospital. “He recently came out of hospital and was back home. When I got the call I drove straight to the house,” Mattocks said.