Legendary Jamaican record producer, songwriter and vocalist has died. Winston Riley fell into a coma after he was shot in Kingston on 1st November 2011. He died on 19th January 2012, aged 65.

He was a founding member of Jamaican group, The Techniques and was also known and respected as a pioneer of his time for scoring hits including “Double Barrel” by Ansel Collins and Dave Baker.

Jamaica’s new Minister of Youth and Culture, Lisa Hanna said she was saddened to receive news of Riley’s death. She described him as a cultural giant. “Winston Riley surely numbered among our best record producers of quality Jamaican music,” Ms. Hanna said. “He was a pioneer in popular music and made an indelible mark in the recording industry.”

Riley is credited with creating the Stalag Rhythm, which later influenced hip-hop and dancehall.

Unlike his contemporaries who shunned dancehall music, Riley embraced contemporary Reggae and had several big hits during the 1980s.

Riley went through a slew of incidents over the past year. He was shot at in August and stabbed in September 2011. Few years ago, his record store located in downtown Kingston, was burnt to the ground.

Riley’s son, popular Radio Jamaica DJ, Kurt Riley told the Observer that his father’s grieving relatives could not figure out a motive behind the attempts on his father’s life. “Unfortunately Daddy didn’t wake up so we could talk to him to find out if there was something he was not telling us. He was a straightforward man, who was allergic to hypocrisy,” he said.

On the Billboardbiz.com website, Riley is remembered as a pivotal figure in expanding Reggae internationally.

Riley’s successful productions stretched well into the 1990s with hits for numerous deejays including Red Dragon, Cutty Ranks and a teenaged Buju Banton while the career of cultural singers including Admiral Tibet and Courtney Melody also benefitted from their association with Riley.