Rest in Power, Jackie Jackson: The Bassline That Built Rocksteady and Reggae (1947–2026)

(ReggaeVibeMedia.com) On September 23, 2026, Jamaican music lost one of its quiet giants. Clifton "Jackie" Jackson, the bassist whose lines helped build rocksteady and carry reggae to the world, passed away in Montego Bay at the age of 79, after close to two months in hospital. He was 79.

Jackson's first recording session tells you everything about the man. In 1967, at Duke Reid's Treasure Isle studio, the young bassist played on Alton Ellis's "Girl I've Got a Date," a record regarded as one of the foundational recordings of rocksteady. From there he became one of Jamaica's most in-demand session players, working with producers including Leslie Kong, Joe Gibbs and Sonia Pottinger, and playing on Desmond Dekker's international smash "Israelites" and recordings by a young Bob Marley and the Wailers.

But it is his more than fifty years with Toots and the Maytals that defined him, a partnership that carried him around the world and earned a share of the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. Along the way he mentored a generation, including Aston "Familyman" Barrett, who always spoke of Jackson paving the way. Tributes poured in from the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association, Culture Minister Olivia Grange and The Wailers, all honoring a humble gentle giant. It was a sad symmetry that his beloved wife, singer Karen Smith, had passed almost five years to the day earlier.

The bassline is the heartbeat of Jamaican music, and Jackie Jackson was one of its greatest hearts. Rest in power. The music plays on.