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Artist News
Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry dies
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 31 August 2021
Influential musician and producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry has died. He was 85.
The Jamaican Observer reported on Sunday that Perry had died that morning at the Noel Holmes Hospital in Jamaica. No cause of death has yet been made public.
Leading the many tributes, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said in a statement: “Undoubtedly, today Jamaica has lost the rhythm and soul of a prolific icon who has inspired many. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry was truly one of the most important and creative figures to have come out of Jamaica”.
Perry’s career in music began in the 1950s, at first working on the industry side before becoming a recording artist for the Studio One label. Following a dispute with label owner Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, he moved to Joe Gibbs’s Amalgamated Records. After a similar falling out with Gibbs, he founded his own Upsetter label in 1968. There he scored his first hit, ‘People Funny Boy’, the title an insult directed at Gibbs.
As well as being popular in Jamaica, Perry began to become known in the UK too, aided by his unusual production techniques, which led to the creation of the dub genre. In the early 70s he built his Black Ark studio in his back garden, increasing his output and working with numerous artists, including The Congos and Bob Marley And The Wailers.
In the late 1980s he found a new audience when he began working with British producers Adrian Sherwood and Mad Professor. And he reached an even larger international audience when he appeared on Beastie Boys’ 1998 album ‘Hello Nasty’ on a track called ‘Dr Lee, PhD’.
Beastie Boy Mike D was one of those who paid tribute following the announcement of Perry’s death, writing on Instagram: “We send the most love and respect we can to Lee Perry who passed today, to his family and loved ones and the many he influenced with his pioneering spirit and work. We are truly grateful to have been inspired by and collaborated with this true legend. Let us all listen to his deep catalogue in tribute”.
