Contributed by Rashona Fitz-Henley

Legendary drummer Sly Dunbar O.D. will be honoured by the University of Minnesota.

Dunbar will be honoured this Friday, May 23 by the University with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the music.

Sly is one-half of Sly & Robbie, Robbie Shakespeare being his bass-playing partner in crime, and they are regarded as one of the greatest duos in reggae music history.

Together, they have also put their rhythmic stamp on records by and remixes for international artistes such as Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Grace Jones, Gilberto Gil, Joe Cocker, Serge Gainsbourg, Talking Heads, Michael Franti, Sting, Tricky, Ben Harper, Doug E. Fresh, Carlos Santana, Sinéad O’Connor, and many, many others.

Robbie passed away in late 2021.

Meanwhile, Director/Curator of the Jamaica Music Museum Herbie Miller C.D. will also be honoured with the Scholar of Distinction Award by the same University in an award ceremony scheduled for Thursday, May 22.

This, for his outstanding contribution as a historian, curator, and presenter of Jamaican music.