As many have pointed out, today is the anniversary of the passing of the great Dennis Emmanuel Brown. I had the honor of working with Dennis for eight amazing years at the beginning of my career. You could argue that it’s all been downhill since! In addition to being one of the greatest singers to ever draw breath, he was also hands down the easiest to work with. Dennis had complete confidence in the band and acted accordingly. No diva behavior or temper tantrums for him. And when Dennis was on, playing with him felt like being on the wing of an airplane while it was taking off.

One of the things I remember best about Dennis was his politeness. I never, ever saw him enter or leave a room without acknowledging everyone in it and making eye contact with them. I never saw him be rude or cruel to anyone.

Dennis also stood up for me very publicly, and forcefully, when someone had the temerity to challenge my presence in his band on my first tour with him. It was one of the few times I ever saw him get truly angry. He then made sure to ride back with me to the hotel afterwards so that he could take my emotional temperature (I was very upset, as you might expect) and reassure me that he wanted me to play with him for a long time to come. It meant everything to me, as it was my first tour and I was constantly terrified.

When I have to explain to people who don’t know reggae how important my tenure with Dennis Brown was, I say, “Look, I could go on and on about this. But the easiest way to explain it to you is that I played with Elvis for eight years. Bob Marley was the world’s reggae singer. Dennis Brown was JAMAICA’S reggae singer.” RIP Dennis; you didn’t have much peace in this life and I hope that you have it wherever you are.