Late Reggae icon Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert will be laid to rest at the National Heroes Park.
The Minister of Culture, Gender Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, made the announcement in a statement Saturday.
According to Grange, Toots will be buried in the section of the park reserved for Jamaica’s cultural icons.
Minister Grange said this had become possible thanks to the generosity of the family of the late actor, broadcaster, director and author Charles Hyatt. Hyatt’s remains were scheduled to be re-interred in the last burial spot for cultural icons at National Heroes’ Park.
Grange said at the time of his death in January, 2007, Hyatt’s family had requested that he be buried inside National Heroes’ Park. However, the family was told that there were no more spaces available and he was instead interred at Meadowrest Memorial Park in St Catherine.
“It was later discovered that there was one final burial space available in the relevant section at National Heroes’ Park and the government went back to the family who decided that they would exhume Mr Hyatt’s remains and re-inter them in National Heroes Park.
“It has been several years since that decision,” Grange explained.
Toots Hibbert was the frontman of the groundbreaking reggae and ska group Toots and the Maytals, which for almost six decades has been among the most prominent groups in reggae.
Toots and the Maytals won the Reggae Grammy Award in 2005 for the album ‘True Love’. He is best known for songs such as ‘Bam, Bam’, ‘Pomps and Pride’, ‘Sweet and Dandy’, and ’54-46 (That’s My Number’).
Hibbert died at the University Hospital of the West Indies on September 11 from COVID-19 complications.
