World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Robbie Shakespeare

Artist. Reggae, dub

Active
1969-2021
Sunrise
September 27, 1953, Kingston, Jamaica
Sunset
December 8, 2021, Florida (kidney surgery complications)
Also recorded as
Sly & Robbie

Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare was a bass player and producer, and with the drummer Sly Dunbar half of Sly and Robbie, the most widely recorded rhythm section in Jamaican music.

He grew up in East Kingston in a house that served as a rehearsal room and meeting place for young musicians; his brother Lloyd's group, the Emotions, which Max Romeo sang with, practiced there. He started on acoustic guitar and drums. Aston "Family Man" Barrett, who came to the yard, agreed to teach him bass, gave him his first bass guitar, and, on leaving the Hippy Boys, passed his place in the band to him. He began by carrying Carlton Barrett's drums into sessions, then waited outside studios to listen to Family Man record and watch his hands, and afterward Barrett would show him the lines at the house. He also named Jackie Jackson, the Treasure Isle bassist, as a major influence. His first record on bass was Errol Dunkley's cover of the Beatles' "I'll Be Back," made for Sonia Pottinger in 1972, and by Katz's account he soon played, uncredited, on "Concrete Jungle" and "Stir It Up" for the Wailers' Catch a Fire. Victor Brodén wrote that he "broke the mold for what reggae bass could be many times over, using a more aggressive attack, a sometimes-brighter sound, and an overall unconventional sonic approach," while trusting in "simplicity, endless repetition, and space."

By the early 1970s he was playing bass and guitar on Bunny Lee's sessions, billed as the Aggrovators, and sitting in with Joe Gibbs's Professionals. In 1972 he met Sly Dunbar, then drumming in Skin, Flesh and Bones at the Tit for Tat club while Shakespeare played at Evil People, and recommended him to Bunny Lee. They found they shared a taste for Motown, Stax, the Philadelphia sound, and country music as well as for Studio One and Treasure Isle, and became a fixed pair in the Revolutionaries at Channel One from the mid-1970s, where Shakespeare played piano on the hit instrumental "MPLA." He plays on Jimmy Cliff's Follow My Mind (1975) and appears as himself in Rockers.

From 1976 the two were the rhythm section of Peter Tosh's Word, Sound and Power. Shakespeare shares the bass on Legalize It with Family Man and plays on Equal Rights, Bush Doctor, Mystic Man, Wanted Dread and Alive, and Mama Africa. He also played on Dennis Brown's Joe Gibbs albums from Visions of Dennis Brown (1978) onward.

In the late 1970s they founded Taxi, with a house band, the Taxi Gang. Its early releases included the Tamlins' version of "Baltimore" and Gregory Isaacs's "Soon Forward," and Taxi records by Jimmy Riley ("Love and Devotion"), Ini Kamoze, and Half Pint followed. Their productions for Black Uhuru, among them Sinsemilla, Red, and Anthem, took that group to Island, and Anthem won the first Grammy awarded for reggae, at the 1985 ceremony.

Outside reggae they played, as part of the Compass Point All Stars, on Grace Jones's Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing, and Living My Life, and on Bob Dylan's Infidels, Empire Burlesque, and Down in the Groove, Mick Jagger's She's the Boss, Joe Cocker's Sheffield Steel, Joan Armatrading's Walk Under Ladders, Ian Dury's Lord Upminster, Gwen Guthrie's first two albums, and four albums by Serge Gainsbourg; later came Sinéad O'Connor's Throw Down Your Arms (2005). They co-produced No Doubt's "Hey Baby" and "Underneath It All" (2001), the second a duet with Lady Saw.

In the early 1990s they made the riddims behind Chaka Demus and Pliers' "Murder She Wrote" and "Tease Me," which paired a deejay with a singer. Their own albums include Language Barrier (1985), Rhythm Killers (1987), and Friends (1998), which won the Grammy for best reggae album; they received thirteen nominations in all, the last for The Final Battle: Sly & Robbie vs. Roots Radics.

Shakespeare had long had diabetes and had been on dialysis after a transplanted kidney failed, and departed in Miami following kidney surgery at sixty-eight. Sly Dunbar departed at his home in Jamaica on January 26, 2026, aged seventy-three.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. In his own account, his brother Lloyd sang in the Emotions with "Maxie Romeo, Leroy Brown and Audley Rollins," who rehearsed at the house every day. Angus Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare," United Reggae, June 26, 2012, https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n1024/062612/interview-robbie-shakespeare.
  2. He recalled that Family Man came to the yard because "my gate was a gate where they used to sell herbs," and that he told him, "I wan fi learn how to play this thing. You haffi teach me." Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare." Katz places the family home in Vineyard Town, says Barrett's Hippy Boys backed the Emotions, and quotes Shakespeare: "My first bass guitar was given to me by Family Man, which was a Hofner, Beatles style," and "when Family Man left Hippy Boys I was the lad to come in." David Katz, "Robbie Shakespeare Married Funk and Reggae to Create a Catalogue of Classics," Guardian, December 9, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/09/robbie-shakespeare-married-funk-and-reggae-to-create-a-catalogue-of-classics.
  3. Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare." The interview places Family Man with the Hippy Boys at the time.
  4. The interview's introduction says he "gravitated to the bass having been inspired by the music of Jackie Jackson of Treasure Isle and the guidance of Aston 'Familyman' Barrett." Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare." In the interview text read, Shakespeare does not himself name Jackson.
  5. Katz, "Robbie Shakespeare Married Funk and Reggae," also credits his bass with helping Burning Spear's "Marcus Garvey" "become a breakthrough sensation." Steffens's account of the "Catch a Fire" sessions was not available to check.
  6. Victor Brodén, "Robbie Shakespeare: 1953-2021," Premier Guitar, December 13, 2021, https://www.premierguitar.com/robbie-shakespeare.
  7. Bradley lists Shakespeare among the Aggrovators, calls him "the first-choice bass player for Bunny Lee's Aggrovators," and names Lloyd Parkes as another of the band's bassists. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 349, 354. Shakespeare himself lists "Aggrovators, Upsetters, Joe Gibbs All Stars." Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare." On bass and guitar with the Aggrovators, "Sly and Robbie," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_and_Robbie, citing Colin Larkin. The Rough Guide says Joe Gibbs's band was essentially the Revolutionaries, "usually substituting Lloyd Parkes for Robbie Shakespeare." Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 229.
  8. Bradley places Sly in Skin, Flesh and Bone, with a residency at the Tit for Tat Club. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 354. The Guardian says Shakespeare was playing at the Evil People club, that Dunbar was resident at the nearby Tit for Tat, and that Shakespeare told Bunny Lee about him. Peter Mason, "Robbie Shakespeare Obituary," Guardian, December 9, 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/dec/09/robbie-shakespeare-obituary. Shakespeare's own account of hearing Sly at the Tit for Tat and booking him for a Bunny Lee session is in Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare." Deadline dates the friendship to 1972. Greg Evans, "Sly Dunbar Dead: Drummer of Celebrated Rhythm Duo Sly & Robbie Was 73," Deadline, January 26, 2026, https://deadline.com/2026/01/sly-dunbar-dead-1236697086/. Rolling Stone gives 1973. David Browne, "Robbie Shakespeare, 'Wickedest Bass' in Reggae, Dead at 68," Rolling Stone, December 8, 2021, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robbie-shakespeare-sly-and-robbie-dead-1269024/.
  9. On the shared tastes, "Sly and Robbie," Wikipedia, citing Colin Larkin.
  10. The books differ on the year. The Rough Guide says the two "began playing together regularly in 1975" and that the Revolutionaries were "built around" them. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 156. Bradley says the Revolutionaries, formed in 1976, "hooked Sly Dunbar up with Robbie Shakespeare," and that they came together as a unit when the Hookims took on Skin, Flesh and Bone. Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 335, 354. Katz says Shakespeare "played piano on the instrumental smash MPLA" at Channel One, and dates it to 1976 elsewhere. Katz, "Robbie Shakespeare Married Funk and Reggae." David Katz, "Sly Dunbar Obituary," Guardian, January 27, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jan/27/sly-dunbar-obituary.
  11. A US promotional pressing credits both Shakespeare and Dunbar among the performers recorded in Jamaica. "Jimmy Cliff - Follow My Mind," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2942616.
  12. "Rockers (1978 film)," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockers_(1978_film), citing Howard Campbell in the Jamaica Observer.
  13. Shakespeare said that in Tosh's band he "was in charge of getting the musicians so I said 'We go for Sly.'" Taylor, "Interview: Robbie Shakespeare." The Guardian says he was the mainstay of the Tosh band from 1975 and played on six of his albums. Mason, "Robbie Shakespeare Obituary."
  14. The sleeves credit Shakespeare with Aston Barrett on bass on "Peter Tosh - Legalize It," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/38442042; with Dunbar on "Peter Tosh - Equal Rights," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1607288; on bass and guitar on "Peter Tosh - Mystic Man," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/3523965; on bass on "Peter Tosh - Wanted Dread & Alive," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1166538; and on three tracks of "Peter Tosh - Mama Africa," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1686388, where Leebert "Gibby" Morrison plays bass on the rest. On "Bush Doctor," "Peter Tosh - Bush Doctor," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/37087071.
  15. Wikipedia credits him on guitar on "Visions," with Lloyd Parks on bass, and lists his later Dennis Brown albums. "Visions of Dennis Brown," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visions_of_Dennis_Brown; "Robbie Shakespeare," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Shakespeare The Rough Guide calls the album "best-selling" but gives no year here. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 161-62. Wikipedia gives 1978; Discogs dates the first Jamaican pressing to March 1977. "Dennis Brown - Visions of Dennis Brown," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4190167.
  16. The Rough Guide calls "Soon Forward" "the initial hit on Taxi in 1979." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 278. The Guardian instead dates the company to 1974. Mason, "Robbie Shakespeare Obituary." The Rough Guide names Dean Fraser among the musicians on their 1990s Taxi work. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 326. Katz dates Taxi's output "from 1977, beginning with Gregory Isaacs' celebratory Oh What a Feeling." Katz, "Robbie Shakespeare Married Funk and Reggae."
  17. On the Tamlins, Jimmy Riley, and Ini Kamoze, Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 278-79. Taxi issued "Soon Forward" in 1979 and "Baltimore" in 1980. "Gregory Isaacs - Soon Forward," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2088993; "The Tamlins - Baltimore," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2201235. Billboard calls "Love and Devotion" Riley's first Jamaican number one, produced by Sly and Robbie. Patricia Meschino, "Legendary Jamaican Singer Jimmy Riley, 68, Dies in New York," Billboard, March 28, 2016, https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7311601/legendary-jamaican-singer-jimmy-riley-68-dies-new-york. Half Pint's Taxi album is "Half Pint - Level the Vibes," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/1866998, from 1987; the Rough Guide notes that his early hit "Winsome" came out on Sun Set, on a Sly and Robbie rhythm. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 279.
  18. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 148-49; Bradley, This Is Reggae Music, 492-93.
  19. Simon Coates, "Why 1985 Was a Landmark Year for Reggae," Grammy.com, September 4, 2025, https://www.grammy.com/news/how-1985-changed-reggae-forever-grammy-awards. The Rough Guide calls "Anthem" weaker than "Chill Out" but notes that it "was the one to win a Grammy." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 149.
  20. On the Compass Point All Stars, "Sly and Robbie," Wikipedia. The Guardian lists "Warm Leatherette" (1980), the three Dylan albums, "She's the Boss," and work with Ian Dury, Joan Armatrading, and Sinéad O'Connor. Mason, "Robbie Shakespeare Obituary." The Grace Jones, Joe Cocker, Gwen Guthrie ("Gwen Guthrie," 1982, and "Portrait," 1983), and O'Connor albums are listed in "Robbie Shakespeare," Wikipedia. Four Gainsbourg records of 1979-81, one of them the single "Negusa Nagast," are listed in "Sly and Robbie discography," Wikipedia, accessed October 5, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_and_Robbie_discography.
  21. The album credits Sly & Robbie with No Doubt as producers of both tracks, Shakespeare with additional bass on "Underneath It All," and Lady Saw as its featured artist. "No Doubt - Rock Steady," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/6128092.
  22. The Rough Guide dates "Murder She Wrote" to the summer of 1993 and says it was based loosely on the Maytals' "Bam Bam" rhythm. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 326. On the deejay-and-singer pairing, "Sly and Robbie," Wikipedia. "Tease Me" (Mango, 1993) is listed in "Sly and Robbie discography," Wikipedia.
  23. Discogs dates "Language Barrier" to 1985, "Rhythm Killers" to 1987, and "Friends" to 1998. "Sly and Robbie - Language Barrier," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/73770; "Sly & Robbie - Rhythm Killers," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/73863; "Sly and Robbie - Friends," Discogs, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/master/73781. The Recording Academy lists "Friends" as the Best Reggae Album winner at the 1999 ceremony and "The Final Battle" as the duo's most recent nomination, at the 62nd awards (2020), with twelve nominations in all under the duo's name. "Sly & Robbie & The Jam Masters," artist page, Grammy.com, accessed October 5, 2026, https://www.grammy.com/artists/sly-robbie-jam-masters/8521/. Variety gives Shakespeare thirteen nominations and two wins, counting "Anthem." J. Kim Murphy, "Robbie Shakespeare, Sly and Robbie Bassist, Dies at 68," Variety, December 9, 2021, https://variety.com/2021/music/news/robbie-shakespeare-dead-sly-and-robbie-bassist-1235129658/.
  24. Reports at his death said he had kidney problems, "including a rejected organ," and Robbie Lyn told the Gleaner he had been "on the dialysis machine." Sheri-kae McLeod, "Robbie Shakespeare, Half of the Legendary Reggae Duo 'Sly & Robbie', Has Died," Caribbean National Weekly, December 9, 2021, https://www.caribbeannationalweekly.com/entertainment/robbie-shakespeare-half-of-the-legendary-reggae-duo-sly-robbie-has-died/. On his death after kidney surgery, at sixty-eight, Murphy, "Robbie Shakespeare." The reports read place it in Florida; Miami is given in "Robbie Shakespeare," Wikipedia. Katz attributes his death to "a longstanding battle with diabetes" and says he had moved to Florida. Katz, "Robbie Shakespeare Married Funk and Reggae."
  25. His wife, Thelma, told the Gleaner she had found him unresponsive that morning. Evans, "Sly Dunbar Dead."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map