Sly Dunbar, the Jamaican musician and producer who created generations of global hits as one half of production duo Sly and Robbie, has died aged 73.

His wife, Thelma, told Jamaican newspaper the Gleaner that she found him unresponsive on Monday morning, with doctors later pronouncing him dead. Other sources close to Dunbar confirmed the news to the Guardian, adding that Dunbar had been unwell for some months.

Among those paying tribute was the British dub and reggae DJ David Rodigan, who called him a “true icon … one of the greatest drummers of all time who played on literally thousands and thousands of recordings”.

Those thousands of sessions were across multiple decades and made with an astonishing range of musical names: stars from the reggae scene such as Black Uhuru, Bunny Wailer and Chaka Demus & Pliers, but also ones from across the pop sphere, from Mick Jagger to Grace Jones, No Doubt and Serge Gainsbourg.

Born Lowell Fillmore Dunbar in Kingston, Jamaica, he started out playing on his school desk and on tin cans. Still in his teens, he and bassist Robbie Shakespeare – who died in 2021 – formed the rhythm section of the group the Revolutionaries (also going under other names such as the Aggrovators), who became one of the key backing bands in Jamaican reggae that decade, as well as putting out their own music. Dunbar’s insistent shuffling “rockers” drum pattern – an early showcase for which was on Dave and Ansell Collins’ Double Barrel, a UK No 1 in 1971 and Dunbar’s first appearance on a song – became hugely influential and soon underpinned whole swathes of roots reggae.

A 1978 tour with the Rolling Stones inspired a harder, more energetic sound for albums by the likes of Black Uhuru. By the end of the 70s Dunbar and Shakespeare had earned enough to form their own label, Taxi Records, and as well as releasing a steady stream of albums as a duo, began being courted by stars from outside Jamaica. They played on an iconic trio of Grace Jones albums in the early 1980s – Warm Leatherette, Nightclubbing and Living My Life – and four albums by Serge Gainsbourg as the French vocalist became interested in reggae, plus two by Bob Dylan: Infidels and Empire Burlesque, with Dunbar describing the former as “one of the coolest sessions that we ever worked on”.

They also backed Ian Dury, including on confrontational hit Spasticus Autisticus, as well as Joe Cocker, Jimmy Cliff, Gwen Guthrie and more. The Rolling Stones connection endured, with Dunbar playing percussion on Undercover, and drums for Mick Jagger’s solo album She’s the Boss.

He and Shakespeare pioneered a bright and melodic take on dancehall with Chaka Demus & Pliers in the early 90s, scoring hits with songs such as Tease Me and Murder She Wrote. Other key later tracks included playing drums on Fugees album The Score; appearing on Simply Red’s successful cover of Night Nurse and Suggs’ cover of Cecilia; and producing two major hits for No Doubt: Underneath it All and Hey Baby. He played on and co-wrote Cheerleader, an international hit for singer Omi in 2014.

Dunbar ended up a 13-time Grammy nominee, winning twice.