Winston Riley dead after two month gun shot wound coma

West Kingston born, singer and producer 65 year old Winston Riley died on Thursday evening at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

Winston succumbed to injuries he received when he was shot in the head at his St Andrew home in November of last year, by gunmen. The producer fell into a coma after the attack and never regained consciousness. Police have yet to find any motives or suspects regarding the incident.

Prior to being shot in the head in November, Riley was targeted in August 2011 when he was shot by unknown assailants.

Before that incident, he was stabbed and  unknown arsonists also burned down his legendary Techniques record store.

Influential

In 1964, at age 16, Riley founded influential Ska/Rocksteady harmony group, “The Techniques”, which recorded for pioneer producer Arthur “Duke” Reid.

He was also influential in the popularisation of Reggae music throughout Europe with hits in the 1970′s.

By the 1970′s, Winston Riley was producing early records for a genre of music that would later be identified as Dancehall music.

He produced several hits for the genre including Tenor Saw’s classic Ring the Alarm, and created the popular Stalag rhythm which has provided the music foundation for an estimated 400 songs.  Artists like Nas, OGC, Busta Rhymes, Biz Markie, Slick Rick and numerous others have sampled his work.

Riley’s son told local media thy he had no idea why his father had been targeted.