Byron Lee was a Jamaican musician, producer, and bandleader born as Byron Aloysius St. Elmo Lee on June 27, 1935, in Christiana. Lee achieved professional recognition for a musical career characterized by ska and soca and for introducing the electric bass guitar to Jamaica in late 1959. He achieved professional recognition for founding the ensemble Byron Lee and the Dragonaires around 1950. Their recording career began with the single "Dumplings" (1959) which was produced by the musician Edward Seaga. The ensemble achieved professional recognition for performing in the movie Dr. No (1962) and contributing the song "Jamaica Jump Up" and the song "Kingston Calypso (Three Blind Mice)". Lee and the ensemble achieved professional recognition for performing on tours and accompanying the musician Jimmy Cliff and the musician Prince Buster. He achieved professional recognition for acquiring the West Indies Records Limited studios in 1968 and renaming them Dynamic Sounds. His recording career included producing the studio recording Reggae Happening (1970) for the musician Boris Gardiner and the studio recording Grooving Out on Life (1973) for the musician Hopeton Lewis. Lee achieved professional recognition for founding the annual Jamaica Carnival in 1990. He achieved professional recognition for receiving the Order of Distinction in 1982 and the Order of Jamaica in 2008. Lee died of bladder cancer on November 4, 2008, in Kingston.
