Noel Bartholomew Simms was born in 1935 and died on February 3, 2017.

He was better known by his nickname and artistic name Scully.

He was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae percussionist.

Simms was born in the Smith Village area of Kingston.

Noel received his education at the Alpha Boys School, he initially worked as a singer in a duo with his schoolfriend Arthur “Bunny” Robinson, known as Simms & Robinson and later Bunny & Scully.

Together they won the Vere Johns talent contest two years running and were the first Jamaican artists to make R&B records on the island, starting with acetates for sound system use in 1953 (previous Jamaican-made singles were calypso).

He had lost his sight to glaucoma.

Nonetheless, Noel kept on recording and writing songs, including “Africa for the Africans”.

He died due to a related illness.

Noel Simms passed away at 82 years old.