Rupert Bent III (centre) playing with Stephen "Cat" Coore of Third World.
Rupert Bent III, the veteran guitarist who died on January 4, is remembered by colleague Michael Fletcher as, “A full-fledged musician who was always ready to go on stage”.
Bent died from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease at the National Chest Hospital in Kingston. He was 57 years-old.
Fletcher, one of reggae’s top bass guitarists, told Observer Online that he first met Bent in the late 1980s when he (Fletcher) was a member of the 809 Band. They participated in weekly jam sessions at Devon House in Kingston.
“It was always a joy performing with Rupert because he was very creative and always coming up with some great jamming ideas,” Fletcher recalled.
Bent followed in the footsteps of his father who was a guitarist with Byron Lee and The Dragonaires. Bent senior was also a respected jazz musician and pilot with Air Jamaica.
The Canada-born Bent played mainly with Third World after moving to Jamaica permanently in the 1980s.
He had three stints with the Grammy-nominated band, co-writing their 1989 hit single, Forbidden Love. Bent also co-produced, co-wrote and co-engineered Generation Coming, Third World’s Grammy-nominated 1999 album.
In addition to Third World, he toured with Julian Marley, Dennis Brown, Sly and Robbie and Sean Paul.
Interestingly, his father played guitar on Lips Of Wine, Brown’s first hit song.
Rupert Bent III is survived by his wife, Michelle Serrant-Bent, his parents and sister Jana.
– Howard Campbell