Shaggy And Sting Pay Tribute To Their Tour Manager Who Died
Amidst the physical and psychological impact of COVID-19 and even the widespread protests caused by the death of George Floyd, that have been creating a paradigm shift, Reggae dancehall icon, Shaggy and Rock Star, Sting, will have to get used to life without their beloved Tour Manager who died recently.
Billy Francis 73, who is said to have died of cancer, was instrumental in the icons’ worldwide tour to promote their album 44/876 released in 2018. The album debuted #1 on the Billboard Reggae Chart and hit #9 on the UK Albums Chart.
Shaggy, in a post to his Instagram page, said, “Another tough day for me today’ amongst the madness taking place right now, we lost our friend and tour leader/ comedian, prankster wine connoisseur and over all fun human being. Billy you were special, I’m glad I had the opportunity to have met you, hang with you, laugh with you, and be the subject of some of your practical jokes.”
The Tribute continued, “We drank wine at the bar every night after show, me you and Sting, it’s fair to say 44/876 wouldn’t have been a successful tour without Billy. I’ve said on numerous interviews that the 44/876 tour was the most fun and rewarding experience of my career Sting and I created the magic but Billy … you made it work. Rest well my brother…”
In a fulsome statement on his website, Sting admitted to spending more time with Billy than he did with his family, touring the world and doing shows.
“We’ve been friends now for over four decades, and I may have spent more time with you than I’ve spent with my wife or my kids, literally thousands upon thousands of gigs, trekking from city to city, country to country, and enough long haul flights across the planet to reach to the moon and back.
The statement carried much weight as Sting not only saw Billy as a Tour Manager but as family.
“It was you, the tour manager, who got us all there safely. We never missed a gig, always on stage promptly at whatever time we were advertised, two hours on stage, into the van and on to the hotel for a drink in the bar and a night’s sleep, and then up early the next morning for another round and yet another destination. This has been our life for over forty years…”
Sting attributed much of his success to Billy, citing the all-rounder as the one who got him where he is today.
“I couldn’t have had a better teacher, big brother, protector, mentor, confidente, or companion for life than you my friend. I love you, I’m immensely proud of you and the friendship we’ve forged together over the years…Know this, I’ll be with you until kingdom come, until that great cosmic gig in the sky, the gig to end all gigs. How the Hell did we get here?… we’ll ask. Billy got us here, no one else could have done it”.