Toots & The Maytals is a Jamaican reggae group known for its bright sound and front man Frederick "Toots" Hibbert's soulful vocals. Formed in the 1960s during the early days of ska, the band released its debut album Never Grow Old, in 1963 and won the first ever Jamaican Independence Festival Popular Song Competition for the original tune "Bam Bam." Despite its quick success, the band was forced to put everything on hold when Hibert was arrested and imprisoned for 18 months. After his release in 2008, The Maytals began working with Leslie Kong, a renowned Chinese Jamican producer, and released a series of hits well into the mid 1970s on albums such as 1972's Funky Kingston, and 1974's In the Dark. Though the group never earned the same enthusiasm in the US as reggae acts like Bob Marley, Toots & The Maytals is still well-known internationally, in countries including New Zealand and the UK, and will be remembered for its presence during the reggae punk and ska revival of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
