Ernie Smith, whose easy-listening songs ruled Jamaican airwaves during the 1970s, has died. The singer-songwriter, who was ill for some time, passed away at the University of Miami Hospital on Thursday, according to his manager, Joanna Marie Robinson.
Smith’s wife, Claudette Bailey Smith, told Observer Online that he died shortly after suffering “cardiac incidents”. Early this week, she disclosed that he underwent a “surgical procedure” on April 9, two days after being admitted to the hospital and was placed in the Intensive Care Unit.
While the surgery was successful, she said the 80 year-old Smith was “heavily sedated” and placed on a ventilator.
Smith’s laid-back songs, which include Pitta Patta, Duppy Gunman and Life is Just For Living, were a contrast to the militant music of roots-reggae acts like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Burning Spear, who dominated the 1970s.
Most of Smith’s hit songs were recorded at Federal Records which was owned by the Khouri family. He was the main artiste at that Kingston company alongside Pluto Shervington, who died in 2024.
Smith had other hits such as I For Jesus and Sunday Coming Down, before migrating to Canada in the late 1970s. After returning to Jamaica in the 1990s, he continued to write and record new songs and became a popular attraction on the live show scene.
In late 2025, he and singer Ed Robinson recorded a version of Pitta Patta which entered the South Florida reggae chart.
Smith was born in Kingston but raised in St Ann. His music career took off in the late 1960s with Ride on Sammy, which was followed by Bend Down.
A major breakthrough came for Smith in 1972 when Life is Just For Living won the Yamaha Music Festival in Japan.
Ernie Smith is survived by his wife, three daughters, two sons and one grandchild. (Jamaica Observer)
