COVID-19

[Drunk Monk]

Reggae Icon Toots Hibbert In Jamaican Intensive Care Unit Awaiting COVID-19 Test Results


9/1/2020 by Gil Kaufman






Harmony Gerber/WireImage

Frederick "Toots" Hibbert of the band Toots and the Maytals performs at 2019 KAABOO Del Mar at Del Mar Race Track on Sept. 15, 2019 in Del Mar, Calif.



Reggae great Toots Hibbert of Toots & the Maytals is "making positive progress" in an intensive care unit in Jamaica as he awaits the results of a COVID-19 test, according to a statement from his family. "While reports of Mr. Hibbert being in an intensive care unit at a private facility in the Corporate Area are true, the family would like to assure those concerned that he is making positive progress and is receiving the best possible treatment, while he awaits the results on his COVID-19 test," reads the statement. "He is resting and in good spirits, and is showing signs of improvement by the hour."
The 77-year-old "Pressure Drop" singer's manager, Caleb Stephenson, told Jamaica's [i]Gleaner[/i] newspaper that Hibbert is recuperating after being admitted to the intensive care unit at a private hospital in St. Andrew following complaints of breathing difficulties. "We took him to a private facility where they administered some tests but said based on what is happening," Stephenson told the paper. "They have to do the COVID-19 test for everything to be complete and to rule it out."
Toots and the Maytals released their first album in a decade, [i]Got to Be Tough[/i], last week. The record, co-produced by drummer Zak Starkey, includes Starkey's dad, Ringo Starr and Ziggy Marley collaborating on a cover of Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds," as well as contributions from Meters drummer Cyril Neville and Jamaican drummer/producer Sly Dunbar.