Founder of Jamaica reggae, rocksteady trio dies

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — One of the founders of a leading Jamaican reggae and rocksteady trio from the 1960s has died.

A bandmate says Barry Llewellyn of the Heptones died Wednesday at age 64. Lead singer Leroy Sibbles said Friday that Llewellyn died of unknown causes at Kingston Public Hospital.

Llewellyn founded the Heptones with Earl Morgan in the late 1950s. The group was considered highly influential during the island's rocksteady era in the 1960s.

The Heptones reunited in the 1990s after a nearly 20-year absence during a worldwide ska and rocksteady revival.

Llewellyn is survived by his wife, Monica, and several children.

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