R.I.P. Junior Murvin

Junior Murvin

R.I.P. Junior Murvin

Junior Murvin

The Independent reports that Junior Murvin, the singer whose pinched falsetto laced the 1976 reggae anthem “Police And Thieves,” has died at home in Port Antonio, Jamaica. Murvin was 64, and no cause of his death has yet been reported, though some reports claim that Murvin was suffering from advanced diabetes. Murvin’s recorded career started in 1966, but it didn’t take off outside of Jamaica until he and producer Lee “Scratch” Perry recorded “Police And Thieves” a decade later. The song was about gang violence in Jamaica, but it became a hit — first an underground one, and then, a few years later, on the pop charts — in England. The Clash famously covered the song on their 1977 debut album. Murvin never equaled that song’s success again, but he kept recording; his last album came out in 2007.

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