King Stitt - File photos

It was rumoured earlier this year but now music pioneer King Stitt has met his end.

In a January interview with The Gleaner, son of Clement 'Coxson' Dodd Courtney Dodd refuted rumours that King Stitt had died. He noted, however, that Stitt had been ill for months.

But the bad news of his death came yesterday. Speaking with THE STAR, Bunny Goodison, who had been friends with Stitt since the 1950s, said the entertainer passed away at his Kingston home at about 1:15 p.m., yesterday afternoon. He said Stitt spent two months at the Kingston Public Hospital after returning ill from Brazil where he had done some shows.

Although saddened by his death, Goodison said it did not come as a surprise as Stitt was suffering from prostate cancer and diabetes for some time.

"I am not shocked 'cause I knew that he was ill for a long while. He went home from the hospital in the same state he was in at the hospital. I will always miss him," he said.

"It's going to be difficult to know that you don't have him around anymore. He gave a lot and as a person, he is someone we should offer some respect."

"I have deep respect for his music and his encyclopaedic memory. His contribution to Jamaica's popular music is quite immense. I have nothing but high regard for him," he added.

Born Winston Sparkes, he was called Stitt as a boy because of a stutter. Keeping the name, Sparkes called himself King Stitt on stage. Stitt's long history with Studio One began in 1956 when he started deejaying on Coxson's Downbeat sound system. Although he had been toasting on the mic for years, his first recording was done in 1969 and was followed by songs like Fire Corner, Lee Van Cleef and Be A Man.

Herbie Miller, curator/director at the Jamaica Music Museum, also lauded Stitt's knowledge and the impact he had on Jamaica's music industry.

"I think that he brought a sense of expression to the music. He preceded what we today call deejays but the spontaneity and the sheer word play and the way in which he interjected lyrics into the song was as though they were acting as additional instruments to the tune," he said.

"Stitt was very instrumental in laying the groundwork for what later deejays benefited from. Stitt will always be remembered as one of the foremost disc jocks. He was certainly a king among kings in the original form of dancehall."

Hearing about Stitt's death for the first time when called by The STAR, Frankie Campbell of Fab 5 and chairman of JAVAA (Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates) said, "He had a fantastic memory. He's basically where deejays started from. Jamaica is losing a great person. What he had in his memory was so vast and so important for the industry. I am really sorry on behalf of Fab 5 and JAVAA. Condolences to the family and we will definitely miss him. He was a very unique character and personality in the music industry," he said.

Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna, was also saddened by his death.

"I am truly saddened to learn that King Stitt has left us. It is not a rumour anymore. Here was a man who overcame the speech impediment which gained him the nickname Stitt to become a deejay of renown. King Stitt was a little man but with a big sound that will reverberate throughout Jamaican musical landscape forever. I express condolences to his family, friends and associates and to the music fraternity," Hanna said in a release.