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Noted band leader Sonny Bradshaw is dead.
Mr. Bradshaw passed away Saturday evening in England after suffering a stroke in August.
Mr. Bradshaw's widow, noted jazz singer and actress Merna Hague, told RJR News on Sunday morning that she and Sonny had a wonderful day on Saturday while they sat in a garden and spoke about plans for the future.
However, in the night she was summoned to hospital and on arrival he had passed away.
Following his passing close friend and associate Count Prince Miller, who worked with Sonny Bradshaw during the early days, remembers him from about age 20 when Mr. Bradshaw invited him to join the band.
Mr. Miller stated that Mr. Bradshaw was a Godfather to the development Jamaican Jazz and the overall development of young Jamaican musicians.
Meanwhile, the Jamaica Diaspora UK Executive Board member Celia Markey-Grandison expressed condolences to Mr. Brashaw's family on behalf of the Jamaican community in the UK.
She told RJR News the Diaspora mourns the passing and urged that the legacy left by Sonny Bradshaw should further support greater development of Jamaican music locally and internationally.
Sonny Bradshaw is also survived by two children and grandchildren.
And, the body of the late Jamaican Jazz icon is to be returned to Jamaica for burial.
Family members have confirmed that Mr. Bradshaw will be buried in Jamaica and plans are being put in place for his body to be returned to the island.
Meanwhile, Jamaican High Commissioner to London Burchell Whiteman said that the Jamaican and UK community has been left in a state of shock as Mr Bradshaw had been recovering well from months of illness.
Mr. Whiteman told RJR News that the news of Mr. Bradshaw's passing is heartbreaking.
He said that the passing of Sonny Bradshaw is a blow to the Jamaican community at home and abroad.
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