South Florida thanksgiving service honours reggae legend Ernie Smith

Hundreds gathered in South Florida on Saturday, May 16, 2026, for a thanksgiving service honouring Glenroy Anthony Smith, the Jamaican songwriter and entertainer known worldwide as Ernie Smith. At Metropolitan Baptist Church, relatives, industry veterans and fans marked a career that ran from a St. Ann childhood to international stages through scripture, tributes and music.

Smith was born in Kingston on May 1 and raised in St. Ann before boarding at York Castle in Brown's Town, where classmates called him Socrates for his love of literature and classical music. Federal Records issued his breakout I Can't Take It; Johnny Nash later re-recorded it as Tears on My Pillow, a title change friends said cost Smith publishing royalties on his own lyric.

In 1972 he wrote the Red Stripe jingle Life Is Just for Living, won a song contest in Japan representing Jamaica, and received the Government's badge of honour—the first for a Jamaican recording artist, later folded into the Order of Distinction. Hits including Sammy Bend Down, Dopey Gunman, Alvin and All for Jesus followed, with guitar work for the Mighty Vikings and club tours island-wide.

Brother Paul recalled shared York Castle scholarships; brother-in-law Alvin spoke of songs that mapped his youth. Copeland Forbes cited the Japan win, the Nash dispute, exile tied to The Power and the Glory, and a sold-out Madison Square Garden show with Big Youth, while calling for a national honour. Widow Claudette described meeting Smith in Miami in 2022 and nursing him through Broward hospital stays from July 2025. Children led a eulogy praising his Kingston student charity and lifelong love of Jamaica. Pastor David Sudaram said Smith embraced Christianity in late 2024 and was baptised in March 2025 in Fort Lauderdale. The South Florida Caribbean Chorale sang All for Jesus, which Smith had licensed for their concerts. Mourners were invited to a repass at Holy Sacrament Episcopal Church in Davie.