Top news from Jamaica

Reggae musician 'Tabby', lead vocalist for the legendary trio Mighty Diamonds, was one of two people murdered on McKinley Crescent in St Andrew on Tuesday night. He was 67 years old.

Three other people — two men and a woman — were also shot in the drive-by attack.

The musician, whose real name is Donald Orlando Shaw was among a group seated on the road when they were sprayed with bullets about 9:45pm.

They were rushed to hospital by residents where Shaw and another man, Owen Beckford, were pronounced dead and the others admitted.

Fitzroy 'Bunny' Simpson is the other member of the group, which was formed in 1969.

"Tabby was one of the great soul singers, I knew him from 1969, we did 46 albums and a whole heap of singles together; we toured the world. He will be greatly missed," Ferguson said.

"We had plans to tour Europe, the Caribbean and Africa, we were doing our 47th album, plus we had two more albums for other producers...I don't know what is going to happen going forward," he added.

The Mighty Diamonds is known for hits such as "Have Mercy", "Pass the Kutchie" (which became an international hit twice), and "I Need a Roof".

The Mighty Diamonds were signed by Virgin Records and their album, "Right Time", was released in 1976, becoming an international success. Their next album, "Deeper Roots", released in 1979, was also a big success.

In 2021, the group was honoured at the National Honours and Awards Ceremony.