Ernie Smith Memorial Service Set for May 16 in Hollywood, Florida

The formal celebration of life for reggae great Glenroy 'Ernie' Smith, who would have marked his 81st birthday today, is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Hollywood, Florida — the state where the singer made his home alongside his wife, Claudette. A separate thanksgiving service will also be staged in Jamaica, with the date still to be confirmed.

“Ernie loved Jamaica,” Claudette stressed. “And he had specific wishes for an occasion such as this. Even before he took sick, we discussed this, and he made it very clear what he wanted, and Jamaica is a big part of that.”

The Ride On, Sammy vocalist, who died on April 16 at a Florida hospital, asked to be cremated, and the family will honour that request. “So, at the service, there won’t be a body or anything like that. Ernie also wanted, at some point, that his ashes be scattered in the sea off the coast in Ocho Rios, [St Ann], so that will be done,” Claudette told The Gleaner.

She added that her husband had been firm about not wishing to be kept alive by machines while unable to engage with loved ones. “Another non-negotiable was that he did not want to be hooked up to any machine, just to lie there and not be able to interact with people around him,” she said, noting that in his final days he had been placed on a ventilator but remained responsive.

To mark what would have been his birthday this evening, a circle of his Florida friends are gathering to share drinks, play his enduring catalogue and reflect on a man they remember as a singer, songwriter, musician, storyteller and dear friend.

“Glenroy and I ... I rarely call him ‘Ernie’ ... didn’t have any discussions about this particular birthday. Since last July, he has been having a barrage of medical issues, so it was getting him to this specialist, and that doctor, doing tests, dialysis and the whole works. It was a health journey, but in the midst of it all, he was still doing his music. He would never complain,” Claudette said.

Part of that work was a new album, which will be issued posthumously.

A leading voice on the local scene since the 1960s, Ernie Smith delivered a string of number-one hits whose warmth and craft endeared him to generations of Jamaicans. Tributes after his passing included one from Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, who recalled that “Ernie Smith, with his booming voice and cleverly crafted lyrics, was a favourite at home and abroad”.

“We know that he had thoughts of being a radio announcer, but music got hold of him, and the legacy he leaves confirms that he made the right choice between the radio studio and the recording studio. Ernie Smith has surely earned his place among the best proponents of Jamaican music,” Grange stated.

Claudette described music as her husband’s true vocation, and spoke warmly of his humility, his appetite for a quiet life, and his keen attention to Jamaican culture and everyday happenings.

“If he had something to say about social issues, he would say it in songs ... and in a humorous way too. He would be out on a street and [see] a situation and he would say ‘Claudette, that’s lyrics, that’s a song right there’. He was in the limelight, and he knew how to operate in those circles, but he never sought it. He lived a simple life. And because of that innocence, people took advantage of him, and he knew it. But it was really music that mattered,” she said.

She also revealed that Ernie Smith was a fan of country music and had originally hoped to build a career as a country singer and writer — a dream he eventually realised through friendships with musicians in Rhode Island.

“He has a group of musician friends in Rhode Island, and every year he would go up to Rhode Island, and they would do a few gigs together, and they would record as well. His friend Dave Turano ... I [can’t] stop talking about David because he was instrumental in Ernie’s career, whether he was in the dumps or whether he was on a musical high. They did tours together ... they recorded together. When he and David and David’s band got together, they just rocked.”

Ernie Smith’s celebrated catalogue includes Duppy Gunman, Life is Just for Living, Pitta Patta, Elsaida, All For Jesus, Key Card and Play De Music.