Jamaican music pioneer Winston ‘Merritone’ Blake died over the weekend.
His cause of death was not release, but sources told us that the Sound System legend passed away at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) on Saturday.
In January Blake reportedly suffered a stroke but was recovering before falling ill again last month. His health started declining further last week Friday while he was undergoing treatment and he later passed away on Saturday morning at 5:30 am.
Merritone is hailed as the God Father of sound system in Jamaica. His father Val Blake started the Merritone Sound System in 1955 but Winston and his older brother Trevor took things over in 1956 when their father died. The Merritone Sound became a household name in the 1960s and 70s playing at the most popular venues in Kingston and the rural areas of Jamaica.
Winston “Merritone” Blake also became a music producer that discovered talents like Beres Hammond and his late wife Cynthia Schloss, who died in 1999.
