Toots and the Maytals

Toots and the Maytals
Performing at the Summer Sundae festival, Leicester, August 2011
Performing at the Summer Sundae festival, Leicester, August 2011
Background information
OriginJamaica
GenresSka, rocksteady, reggae
Years active
  • 1962–1969 (vocal group)
  • 1969–1981
  • 1990–2013
  • 2016–present[1]
Labels
Members
Past members
Websitewww.tootsandthemaytals.org

The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music.

Frontman Toots Hibbert, who died in 2020,[2] was considered a reggae pioneer on par with Bob Marley.[3] His soulful vocal style was compared to Otis Redding, and led him to be named by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Singers.[4] After Hibbert's death, the Maytals indicated that they would continue as a working group.[1]

Their 1968 single "Do the Reggay" was the first song to use the word "reggae", coining the name of the genre and introducing it to a global audience.[5][6][7] The Oxford English Dictionary credits Toots and the Maytals in the etymology of the word "Reggae".[8] According to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, "The Maytals were unlike anything else ... sensational, raw, and dynamic."[9]

  1. ^ a b "Toots Is Gone, but The Maytals Carry On". Caribbean National Weekly. 27 November 2020. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Toots and the Maytals". Jamaica-gleaner.com. 12 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  3. ^ Kenan Malik (13 September 2020). "Salute Toots Hibbert – a reggae pioneer to rival Bob Marley". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  4. ^ "100 Greatest Singers". Rolling Stone. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. ^ Mark Savage (12 September 2020). "Obituary: Toots Hibbert - the man who coined the word reggae". BBC News. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert Biography". biography.com. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  7. ^ "reggae". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  8. ^ "reggae, n." Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  9. ^ "BBC Four - Toots and the Maytals: Reggae Got Soul". BBC. Retrieved 8 October 2022.

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