Popular ska/reggae singer and producer Lloyd Charmers passed away on December 27 after suffering a heart attack while he was driving. He was 74.
He was taken to Homerton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
Born Lloyd Tyrell in Kingston, Jamaica, he started as a singer and keyboard player in Trench Town, Jamaica. He launched his music career in 1962 as a member of The Charmers with Roy Willis on Vere Johns’ Talent Hour. Then he joined The Uniques with Slim Smith and Martin Jimmy Riley. In 1970, he went solo and released his first two solo albums, Reggae Charm and Reggae is Tight on Trojan Records.
He set up his own recording label called Splash, where he produced a number of other artists, including Ken Boothe, who recorded a cover of Bread’s ‘Everything I Own’, which topped the UK Singles Charts in 1974.
Charmers relocated to the UK in the late 1970s, where he was producing various musical styles.
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