Ruddy Thomas
Artist. Reggae
- Active
- 1970s-2006
- Sunrise
- July 12, 1951
- Sunset
- June 10, 2006, Port Antonio, Portland, Jamaica
Ruddy Thomas was a singer, songwriter, producer and studio engineer, one of the men who ran and arranged sessions for Joe Gibbs in the 1970s and a lovers rock singer in his own right.
At Gibbs's studio he worked with Ossie Hibbert and Blacka Morwell alongside the engineer Errol Thompson, the other half of the Mighty Two. For the blues-dance market the pair made his "Let's Make a Baby" and his revival of Dobby Dobson's "Loving Pauper," well-crafted romantic records among their hits of the period. He also recorded "People Make the World Go Round," and was known for duets: "Time for Love" with J.C. Lodge, "The Closer I Get to You" with Marcia Aitken, "You Can't Hide" with Pam Hall, several with Cynthia Schloss, and an album with Susan Cadogan. In 1981 his "Just One Moment Away" gave the British label Hawkeye its first number one.
In June 2006, a finalist in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's Popular Song Competition with "You Are Love," he collapsed while performing at a road show in Port Antonio and was pronounced dead at the town's hospital, at fifty-four.
Last updated October 21, 2026
Connections
- Susan Cadogan (duo partner)
- Joe Gibbs (employer)
- Errol Thompson (collaborator)
- Ossie Hibbert (collaborator)
Notes
- Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 160. Teino Evans, "JCDC Finalist Ruddy Thomas Dies on Stage," Jamaica Gleaner, June 12, 2006, https://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060612/ent/ent2.html, which calls him a singer, songwriter, producer and studio engineer.
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 160, 162.
- Evans, "JCDC Finalist Ruddy Thomas Dies on Stage," which says the Hawkeye record "topped the British charts." The Gleaner prints "Marcia Akins"; the Joe Gibbs singer Marcia Aitken is meant. On the duet with Cadogan, see her entry.
- Gareth Davis, "Artiste Ruddy Thomas Collapses, Dies," Jamaica Gleaner, June 12, 2006, https://old.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060612/lead/lead2.html, which says he collapsed "last Saturday night," that is, June 10, 2006, and gives his age; he had recently been treated for a heart condition. Evans, "JCDC Finalist Ruddy Thomas Dies on Stage," which gives his birth date and reports a heart attack.
