Reggae singer Roland Burrell dies in Montego Bay after 1982 Johnny Dollar hit

Veteran reggae vocalist Roland Burrell has died in Montego Bay on May 14, family and colleagues have confirmed. He was best known for Johnny Dollar, which reached number one in 1982.

His cousin Earl Messam, also a producer, verified the passing to this publication. Messam said Burrell’s death came without warning and that he could not yet say what caused it.

Burrell was born in the Pennants area of Clarendon and grew up in Trench Town. He started cutting records in the early 1970s, though wider recognition waited until mid-1982, when he laid down tracks at Channel One for Alton “Tanka” Hill.

That session yielded Johnny Dollar, a reworking of Garnet Mimms’s 1964 soul single A Quiet Place. Sly and Robbie played on the track when they were among the most in-demand players in reggae. The record climbed to the top of reggae listings in Jamaica, the United States, and Britain.

Burrell’s next major release under Hill was Stormy Night, which gained strong traction in Jamaica and the UK. Creation Steppers had first recorded that tune in 1975.

About two years before his death, Burrell cut a fresh take on Johnny Dollar for Wildfire Records, Messam’s Philadelphia imprint. Messam also handled much of the singer’s later work, among them My Conversation, You Have Caught Me, and Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.

He leaves behind four children and grandchildren.