Second Mighty Diamonds Member Passes Away In Four Days: Bunny Diamond Dead At 70
Mighty Diamonds singer Fitzroy ‘Bunny Diamond’ Simpson passed away this morning at an undisclosed hospital after a long battle with diabetes, four days after the Reggae group’s lead singer, Donald ‘Tabby Diamond’ Shaw, was killed.
Bunny Diamond was 70 years old.
“I can’t deal with this…it’s tough. The second one of the Mighty Diamonds to pass away in four days. He died this morning in hospital, he had been sick for a while ,” Frankie Campbell, chairman of The Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA), confirmed to DancehallMag.
“To lose Tabby and Bunny so close together is a hard thing to deal with,” Campbell said.
“It is devastating to lose Fitzroy ‘Bunny’ Simpson, another member of the Mighty Diamonds, in the same week as the leader of group, Donald ‘Tabby’ Shaw, who was killed on Monday night, March 28,” Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, said in a release.
“My deepest sympathy goes out to Ronece, to his other daughters, Gillian and Rosemarie; and to his sons Dillion, Omar and Allan and of course to the remaining Diamond, Lloyd ‘Judge’ Ferguson, who with Tabby and Bunny, formed the Mighty Diamonds. I extend sympathy also to his friends and associates in the music fraternity,” Grange added.
Simpson suffered a minor stroke on October 26, 2015 while driving in Kingston, his wife Sylvia revealed. He had reportedly been battling diabetes for several years.
Donald ‘Tabby Diamond’ Shaw was one of two men shot dead in a drive-by gun attack on McKinley Crescent in Kingston earlier this week. He was the Mighty Diamonds’ lead vocalist, with Fitzroy ‘Bunny’ Simpson and ‘Lloyd’ Judge Ferguson providing harmony vocals.
Following Tabby’s death on Tuesday night, Judge—the now sole surviving member of the group—had told DancehallMag that he had not slept all night after hearing the news.
“Tabby was one of the great soul singers, we toured the world together, 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.”
The Mighty Diamonds had a strong Rastafarian influence. The group was formed in 1969 and remained together until 2012. They are best known for their debut album Right Time and are known for songs such as I Need a Roof, Right Time and Pass the Kouchie.
Tabby, Bunny and Judge have released over forty albums in their long career. Their smooth harmonies and choreographed stage show were inspired by Motown vocal groups of the 1960s, The Temptations, The Impressions as well as Jamaican rock steady artistes, John Holt and Ken Boothe.
The Mighty Diamonds has received several local and international honors. The group was bestowed the Order of Distinction in the Officer Class in 2021 on Jamaica’s 59th anniversary of independence.