Reggae musician, educator, and founding member of Reggae band Third World, Michael “Ibo” Cooper, has died.
According to reports, the 71-year-old musician had been ailing for some time.
Cooper’s death comes months after his son, famed Jamaican disc jockey Arif Cooper died suddenly in March.
Read: Popular Jamaican DJ Arif Cooper has died
Michael’s wife Joy also passed away last month.
He was a member of the reggae band Inner Circle and a founding member of the reggae band Third World.
Third World was originally formed in 1973 by Cooper, a keyboardist, and guitarist/cellist Steven “Cat” Coore. Cooper left the band in 1997.
Cooper later served as head of the Caribbean, Latin American, and jazz department, now called Popular Music Studies, at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston. He was also chairman of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JARIA).
In 2005, he alongside his former bandmate Coore received the Order of Distinction, in the rank of Officer (OD), for their contribution to the development of Jamaican music.
More to come on this story.
