Born January 28th 1941, King Tubby is known primarily for his influence on the development of dub in the 1960s. In the 1950s, King Tubby's musical career began with the sound systems, set up on the streets of Kingston and playing dance music for the people. As a radio repairman, Tubby soon became quite helpful at most of the sound systems around.
Tubby began working with in 1968. At , a studio, Tubby began making remixes of hit songs, usually by simply removing the vocals. In time, Tubby (and others) began shifting the emphasis in the instrumentals, adding sounds and removing others and adding various special effects, like echoes, feedback and filtering. By 1971, Tubby's soundsystem was one of the most popular in Kingston and he decided to open a studio of his own. His remixes soon proved enormously popular, and he became one of the biggest celebrities in Jamaica.
During the 1970s, Tubby's work in the studio gave rise to modern dub music. He had a long string of hit songs, and worked as a producer for some of Jamaica's most popular artists, including , , and . In 1973, he began recording vocals to put along the instrumentals. By the later part of the decade though, King Tubby had mostly retired from music, still occasionally recording remixes and tutoring a new generation of artists, including and .
In the 1980s, he focused on production for , and other popular musicians, for his group of labels. He was shot and killed by unknown persons, probably in a robbery attempt, in 1989, February 06th.
Name Vars
- K. Tobbys
- K. Tubby
- KIng Tubby's
- King (Osbourne Ruddock) Tubby
- King Tobbys
- King Tubb's
- King Tubbies
- King Tubbs At His Best
- King Tubby (Dub Master)
- King Tubby The Dub Master
- King Tubby The Dub Organizer
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- King Tubby's
- King Tubby's Alias Osbourne Ruddock
- King Tubby's All Stars
- King Tubby's Mix
- King Tubby's Special
- King Tubby's Studio
- King Tubby, The Dub Master
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- King Tubbys / Orline Ruddock
- King Tubbys Alias Osbourne Ruddock
- King Tubbys All Stars
- King Tubbystyle
- King Tubby´s
- King Tuby
- King, The
- Kings Tubby's
- T. Tubby
- The Emperor Of Dub His Majesty King Tubby's
- The King
- The King Himself
- The Late Great King Tubby
- The Mighty King Tubby's
- Tubbs
- Tubby
- Tubby At The Control
- Tubby King
- Tubby's
- Tubby's Mix
- Tubbys