Ernie Smith, a Jamaican reggae singer, died on April 16, 2026, at the age of 80.
Born Glenroy Anthony Michael Archangelo Smith in Kingston, Jamaica, in May 1945, he was raised in St. Ann and May Pen.
He played guitar in The Vandals in Claremont, St. Ann, after leaving school, and was nicknamed Ernie after Ernest Ranglin. Smith’s greatest success came in the late 1960s and 1970s, beginning with the chart hit “Bend Down” and followed by Jamaican number one songs including “Ride on Sammy,” “One Dream” and “Pitta Patta.”
Ernie Smith, 80, Jamaican reggae singer.