king Stitt died at his home in the capital of Kingston after a long fight with prostate cancer and diabetes, said Jamaican musicologist Bunny Goodison, who was a close friend to the performer for more than 50 years. Stitt had recently been discharged from a public hospital.The entertainer known offstage as Winston Sparks started his musical career in the late 1950s on Kingston's circuit of sound systems, a sort of portable disco.
Stitt is credited as one of the earliest performers of "toasting," a vibrant form of Jamaican deejaying that directly inspired hip-hop music.
He is best known for songs like "Paradise Plum" and "Fire Corner." He was a close collaborator of the late music producer Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, who ran the celebrated Studio One and guided Stitt's career for years.