The Third World co-founder helped carry Jamaican music into the world — with melody, discipline, and a musician’s soul.
Kingston, Jamaica — Reggae icon Stephen “Cat” Coore, the instrumentalist, singer, arranger and founding member of the legendary reggae-fusion band Third World, has died on January 18, 2026, World Music Views (WMV) has confirmed.
Coore, born April 6, 1956, was one of the most distinctive musicians in Jamaican music history — an artist who carried classical training into reggae without ever stripping it of its roots. His ability to weave cello-level sophistication and guitar brilliance into heavy Caribbean rhythm helped define Third World’s sound for more than five decades, and helped push reggae beyond borders at a time when global recognition was far from guaranteed.
With Third World, Coore helped create some of the genre’s most recognizable international recordings, including “96 Degrees in the Shade” and the worldwide smash “Now That We Found Love,” which became a defining moment for reggae on international pop charts.
Raised in Kingston, Coore grew up in a home where music and public life co-existed. His mother was a cellist and music teacher, and from early childhood she recognized that her son didn’t just enjoy music — he responded to it instinctively. In a 2018 interview with WMV, Coore recalled that as a child, he would walk in circles while records played, stopping only when the music stopped — a small memory that revealed the truth early: music had already chosen him.
That foundation led him into classical cello and formal discipline, but like many Jamaican youths of his era, he was also shaped by the arrival of modern popular music — the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and a world of sound that expanded his imagination. By age ten, he was already merging worlds: classical precision and street-level musical hunger.
From Inner Circle to Third World
In the mid-1960s he formed The Alley Cats with fellow musician Michael “Ibo” Cooper, beginning a partnership that would become one of reggae’s most influential.
As a teenager, he joined Inner Circle, but in 1973, Coore broke away to form Third World Band.
That vision became Third World.
When the group was signed by Chris Blackwell’s Island Records in 1975, the band stepped into the global arena with a sound that was ahead of its time: reggae fused with funk, soul, jazz, rock and R&B — but still undeniably Jamaican.
On stage and in studio, his musicianship gave the band its blend of technical elegance and emotional warmth. His approach proved something important: reggae didn’t need to shrink to go global — it could expand.
A Musician Who Valued Melody Above All
In an era when Jamaican musicians were often underpaid and underprotected, Coore carried a deep understanding of the industry’s harsh realities. He once told WMV that his first recording — “Cherry O’ Baby” — earned him just ten dollars, a detail that reflects the exploitation many reggae pioneers endured while building the culture the world now profits from.
Still, he never turned bitter. He stayed committed.
When asked what made reggae travel internationally, Coore’s answer was direct and timeless: there was no formula — it was about timing, quality, beat, presentation.
But above all, he insisted: melody is the key.
That belief shaped his life’s work.
In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Jamaican culture and the creative arts, Stephen “Cat” Coore was awarded the Order of Distinction (OD) by the Government of Jamaica, honouring his decades of service to music and his role in promoting Jamaica’s cultural legacy worldwide.
Stephen “Cat” Coore leaves behind not only a monumental legacy in music, but a family who knew him beyond the stage.
He is survived by his wife Lisa, his children Shiah, Kanna, Stephen, and Ashley, his grandchildren, extended family, bandmates, colleagues, and fans across the world.
