Leroy Sibbles (born January 29, 1949) is a Jamaican-Canadian reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s.
In addition to his work with The Heptones, Sibbles was a session bassist and arranger at Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd's Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio
and the associated Studio One label during the prolific late 1960s, and was described as "the greatest all-round talent in reggae history" by Kevin O'Brien Chang
and Wayne Chen in their 1998 book Reggae Routes.he son of a grocer, Sibbles began singing in the 1950s and also played guitar, having been taught by Trench Town Rastas
Brother Huntley and 'Carrot'.Barry Llewellyn and Earl Morgan had formed The Heptones in 1958, and Sibbles was in a rival group along with two friends. Sibbles joined
The Heptones in 1965 after the two groups competed in a street-corner contest.
The trio made their first recordings for Ken Lack in 1966 with "School Girls" and "Gun Man Coming to Town", the latter the A-side of their début single. Though the
songs didn't achieve hit status, the latter composition made the playlists at Radio Jamaica Rediffusion (RJR). They moved on to Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One
where they stayed until 1971.The Heptones were among the most influential groups of the rock steady era,along with The Pioneers, The Gaylads, The Paragons, The Uniques,
and The Techniques. Signature Heptones songs included "Baby", "Get in the Groove", "Ting a Ling", "Fattie Fattie", "Got to Fight On (To the Top)", "Party Time", and
Sweet Talking". The group's Studio One output has been collected on albums The Heptones, On Top, Ting a Ling, Freedom Line, and the Heartbeat Records anthology, Sea of
Love.
