Toots’ estate reaches a settlement

The estate of the legendary reggae singer Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert recently reached an out-of-court settlement with the members of his former backing band over the use of the Maytals name.

A cease-and-desist letter was sent to the musicians on July 15 by the California-based law firm Isaacman, Kaufman, Painter, Lowy and Zucker, which represents the estate. After several rounds of negotiations, the matter was resolved on December 8, which, incidentally, is the same day that Hibbert would have celebrated his 79th birthday. Hibbert passed away on September 11, 2020 at the age of 77 at the University Hospital of The West Indies. Under this settlement, the estate retains full ownership of the Maytals name and trademark.

"We are happy that we were able to reach an amicable agreement with the members of my father's former backing band over the use of the Maytals name. The Maytals name belonged to my father and since he's no longer here physically, it now belongs to his estate," said the singer's daughter Leba Hibbert.

PRESERVING THE LEGACY

She also said that now that a settlement has been reached, her family is moving forward with plans to keep her father's legacy alive.

"We plan to do all that we can to honour my father's name and to keep his legacy alive. We don't want to say too much right now, but we'll make an official announcement very soon," she said.

Hibbert began touring in the 1970s. His landmark album Funky Kingston is rated as one of the greatest albums of all time. Toots & the Maytals won the Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album twice, in 2005 with an album titled True Love and in 2021 with Got To Be Tough.