file

John Holt

Several artistes, local and international, have paid tributes to reggae crooner John Holt who died at the Wellington Hospital, St John's Wood, London, England, on Sunday.

Holt, who was known for hits such as The Tide is High (which was later covered by pop group Blondie, Maxi Priest, and sampled by Canadian rapper, Kardinal Offishall), Wear You To The Ball, Stick By Me, Police in Helicopter, Tribal War (first done by Little Roy), Wildfire (a duet with the late Dennis Brown), If I Were A Carpenter, Ali Baba, and A Love I Can Feel, was 67 years old.

Since news of Holt's death broke on Sunday night, tributes have been pouring in for a man many describe as legendary.

Yesterday, several celebrities took to social media to pay tribute to the artiste. Shaggy tweeted: "We have lost a legend. Very instrumental part of our reggae history! You'll be missed."

Fellow artiste Sean Paul said: "RIP Sir John Holt. You have served your culture well. I salute you."

British reggae band UB40 added that Holt was a "massive inspiration and will be sorely missed", while Maxi Priest said: "I am saddened, as I know along with the rest of the world ... #RIP #JohnHolt #TheTideIsHigh."

Greatest pioneers

Reggae crooner Jah Cure also hailed Holt stating that: "Rip to the legendary John Holt. One of the greatest pioneers of our music #LifeWeLive."

Tim Burgess of rock group, The Charlatans, said: "Aw man. John Holt has died. Time to listen to this turned up loud http://youtu.be/tto0g70sUic."

Other entertainers such as Third World, Cherine Anderson, Rootz Underground and Inner Circle also paid tribute to the late singer.

Meanwhile, Teddy Davis, Holt's road manager, told THE STAR "He was the type of person that didn't like people to worry, so he often said he was OK when he really wasn't. He will be greatly missed," Davis said.

Copeland Forbes, Holt's manager since 2006, told THE STAR that when he heard the news, via email, he was both sad and upset. "I'm upset because I told John to take it easy. I thought it was too early after his operation for him to go back to work, but he kept pushing ," Forbes explained. "I told him there was no need to rush back to work and that he should wait for the healing process to take proper effect, but he said he was all right."

Bob Andy, founding member of The Paragons, of which Holt was a part, also expressed sadness at his friend's passing. "He was a soulful guy musically. He wasn't adventurous, but stuck to what he knew. He was the voice of our era. I mean, you have the greats like Bob Marley, Ken Boothe and others, but John Holt was just something else," Andy said.