As an update from this week's previous news, reggae pioneer Alton Ellis is dead. This past week he slipped into a coma and died peacefully at age 70.

His musical legacy will live on in the history of rocksteady and the continuing usage of his Mad Mad riddim, a cornerstone riddim of Jamaican dancehall and one of the most heavily reused riddims in Jamaican music, including usage in Junjo Lawes's Diseases riddim, King Yellowman’s 1982 hit zungazeng, and throughout dancehall, reggae, and hip hop today.

Ellis's health began to decline during his 2007 tour, until he was admitted to a London hospital in December where he announced that he would begin chemotherapy for cancer of the lymph glands. He managed to recover and continue touring in the summer of 2008 until he collapsed onstage at a live show and was rushed to the hospital where he remained until passing away.

Alton Ellis begain his career in the late 1950s as one half of the duo Alton and Eddit; he and his partner Eddie Perkins recorded their first hit, Muriel, for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One. The pair split up shortly thereafter, when Perkins decided to migrate to the US.

Alton Ellis went on to build a wildly successful solo career as one of the early innovators of Rocksteady Reggae in the 1960s, starting with his hit single Girl I've Got a Date. He went on to record the hits Cry Tough and Ready, Rocksteady and his debut album Mr. Soul of Jamaica. Ellis spread the rocksteady genre's poplarity through the United Kingdom and Europe throughout the 1960s and 1970s and is credited with helping create the UK reggae scene, going so far as to move to the UK and open a record store in London.

Ellis returned to the stage as ska and rocksteady became popular again more recently, appearing in the Bisasor Brothers' "Rocksteady Roll Call" show and international tours. He returned to the studio to record his Change My Mind album in 2000 and More Alton Ellis in 2001.

Alton Ellis's manager and agent, Trish De Rosa, explained that "his life was the music and the stage. He was getting a tremendous amount of work right up to the end - it was very difficult to get him to slow down."

De Rosa went on to mention that thee Jamaican authorities are considering giving Alton Ellis a state funeral. Alton Ellis is survived by his 24 children.