Taken by cancer, Michael "Mikey Dread" Campbell passed away on the evening of Saturday 15 March, at his sister’s home in Connecticut. The "Dread at the Controls" man had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last October. He began his career as a sound engineer at the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC). At a time when the station broadcast only foreign pop, he convinced his bosses to give him a radio show (a first on the national station) devoted to reggae and called "Dread at the Controls". The nickname would never leave him. He went on to become the island’s favourite radio personality in 1977-1978.
Having crossed to the other side of the microphone the following year, Mikey Dread set up his own label, naturally named Dread at the controls, recorded albums that became classics ("Dread At The Controls", "African Anthem", "World War III"), and worked notably with the producers King Tubby and Carlton Patterson.
His career took on an international dimension when, in the middle of the punk wave in England, the Clash invited him to work with them. Campbell produced their single Bankrobber and joined them behind the microphone on their album "Sandinista!" (3 million copies sold) in 1980, as well as accompanying them on tour.
Retired to Miami from 1995, Campbell hosted a radio show there while waiting for time to give him back the rights to his catalogue, which he reissued on his own label Dread at the Controls. He leaves behind his wife and six children.