Rupert Bent Jr, the Canada-born guitarist who played with elite artists such as Third World, Dennis Brown and Sean Paul, died in Kingston, Jamaica on January 4. The 57-year-old musician died from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Bent, whose parents are Jamaican, moved to Kingston during the 1980s and immediately made his mark by playing with Julian Marley and Third World. He was in his third stint with the Grammy-nominated band when he died.
“It’s a very sad time for us in the Third World family. When Rupert came to Jamaica from Canada, I met up with him and he knew every guitar solo I played, he knew them all,” said Third World co-founder Stephen “Cat” Coore. “He really grew up on Third World music.” Bent co-wrote ‘Forbidden Love’, a big hit song for Third World in 1989. He also toured with Sly and Robbie.
A rounded musician who also played bass and keyboards, Bent was the son of Rupert Bent II, an airline pilot and respected guitarist who was once a member of Byron Lee and The Dragonaires. He and his sister Jana spent much of their early years in Canada before settling in Jamaica, their parents’ homeland. Jana, a singer, has toured with The Wailers and Shaggy.
Rupert Bent Jr was also an accomplished sailor. In 2018, he piloted a 40-foot wooden sailboat from Kingston Harbour to Morocco.
