WINSTON RILEY DIES
 
Celebrated reggae producer Winston Riley has died, weeks after he was shot in the head in his native Jamaica.
The star fell into a coma after he was gunned down in Kingston on 1 November (11) and he passed away on Thursday (19Jan12).
He was 65.
Widely recognised as one of the most successful reggae producers of all time, Riley began his career as a singer at the age of 16, when he formed his own band The Techniques.
They recorded with producers Byron Lee and Duke Reid, before Riley quit the group and moved behind the soundboard to try his hand at beatmaking.
He went on to work with reggae acts including Boris Gardiner and Johnny Osbourne and scored international success in 1971 with Dave and Ansell Collins' hit Double Barrel.
Riley became known for creating the popular 'Stalag' beat and later helped to launch the careers of Buju Banton, Lone Ranger and Frankie Paul.
Riley had been targeted in a number of vicious attacks in the past year he was shot in August 2011 and stabbed repeatedly in another incident in September 2011.
Police have struggled to establish a motive for any of the attacks and his son, radio DJ Kurt Riley, remains equally baffled by the shocking wave of violence.
He says, "Unfortunately Daddy didn't wake up so we could talk to him to find out if there was something he was not telling us. He was a straightforward man, who was allergic to hypocrisy.".
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ERROL SCORCHER
PASSED AWAY
Reggae artiste Errol Scorcher passed away in the Spanish Town Hospital, St Catherine on Thursday 19th jan. He was 55 years old.
According Dorna Brown, his partner of nine years, Scorcher whose real name is Errol Archer died from a ruptured blood vessel in his head.
He has been in the hospital since Tuesday after collapsing at his St Catherine home.
“I am very devastated right now. He was such a wonderful person. He’s my other half. When I met him, I didn’t miss family, he was like everybody in one,” Brown told the Observer.
Scorcher dominated the 80s with songs such as Roach Inna Di Corner and Bubble Under Me.
Longtime friend and colleague Errol Dunkley said he was looking forward to an upcoming dance that both planned to attend.
Scorcher emerged on the scene in the early 70s.
According to his bio, he began working as a deejay on several sound systems and eventually released a single entitled Leggo Mi Hand Babylon, which, while wasn’t a runaway success, did manage to garner him some attention in the dancehall.
Scorcher followed up that release with singles such as Jolly Bus Ting, Engineer’s Affair and Peace Truce. He later teamed up with Nicodemus, Nigger Kojack and Mother Liza on Prince Jammy’s Tapetone Sound System.
Errol Scorcher got the breakthrough he was seeking in 1979, when he recorded the popular Roach Inna Di Corner, catapulting him into the spotlight and making him a dancehall staple on many top events.
Scorcher followed up that success with singles such as Frog In a Water, Mosquitoes, Borrow Man, Under Me and Rude Bwoy Step.
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BEENIEMAN CHANGE HIS NAME
The King of the Dancehall Beenie Man said his new name is Ras Paradox.
In a released by the Jamaica Star, he also said that the war between him and Bounty Killer is now over as this was just been done to bring back Killer into the lime-light.
Beenie said now that Bounty is now in the back on the scence, he is going to concentrate on doing positive music.
In relation to a recent clash in Negril and a series of songs trading insults between the two, the deejay said; "There was no feud between us. It was just to bring back Killa, and now that him return, it is what it is. mi just want him fi duh music because him cyaah live offa who him buss," he said.
He continued: "I'm the 'King in Control'. my new album is coming soon and I have a lot of international features on it including Nicki Minaj and Busta Rhymes. I still have my career, I have not lost anything to Bounty Killer. I still have my Grammy, and Bounty still nuh have none. I have over 18 songs on Billboard and Bounty only have one and a No Doubt song dat."
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SOUL LEGEND ETTA JAMES DIES
 
Soul legend Etta James has died at the age of 73, According to reports, Etta James, who also suffered from dementia and hepatitis C, died in a California after a battle with leukemia Since March 2010.
James has received round-the-clock medical care at her home in Riverside, where she moved in the late 1980s after living in Los Angeles. Family members were told about two weeks ago that James had chronic leukemia.
Etta James, born Jan. 25, 1938 in Los Angeles, and a trio she formed in her mid-teens called “The Peaches” caught the attention of bandleader Johnny Otis, launching her career at an early age. The Grammy Award winner toured with Otis and other artists and recorded for Modern Records until the late 1950s before achieving her greatest success after signing with pre-eminent 1960s blues label Chess Records.
Some of her early hits that were recorded in the 1960s include “All I Could Do Was Cry,” “My Dearest Darling,” “Trust in Me” and “Don’t Cry, Baby.”
The rise of Chess Records was the subject of the 2008 movie, “Cadillac Records,” in which Beyonce Knowles played the role of James.
Throughout her illustrious career, James opened for the Rolling Stones, won six Grammys, and was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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