Jamaican Singer, Hopeton Lewis, Dies In New York

NEW YORK, New York, CMC – The Jamaican-born singer, Hopeton Lewis, credited with recording the first “Rocksteady” song, has died. He was 66.

Hopeton Lewis

Lewis, who died at his Brooklyn home last Thursday night, is best known for the 1966 hit “Take it Easy” which heralded the Rocksteady sound, which preceded the internationally acclaim reggae music. In 1970, he had the hit song “Grooving out on Life”.

He performed with a number of groups, including the Heptones, the Paragons and the Melodians.

Lewis is reported to have been struggling with various ailments over a period of time, but the cause of death was not disclosed.

Lewis was the founder and president of the Hopeton Lewis Caribbean Gospel Music Awards and owner of Caribbean Gospel Jubilee (CGJ), an Internet radio station, in keeping with the lifestyle he adopted after turning his back on secular music more than two decades ago.