Steve 'Grizzly' Nisbett drummer of Steel Pulse dies
19 January 2018
Noise11
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Steve ‘Grizzly’ Nisbett of reggae band Steel Pulse has died at age 69.
Nisbett was the drummer for Steel Pulse from 1977-2001 when he left due to ill health.
Steel Pulse formed in 1975 and still play live. The band, from Birmingham, England, became the first non-Jamaican band to win a Grammy Award.
Born on the small Caribbean island of Nevis, the eldest of seven children, he left the Caribbean in 1957 at the age of nine to join his parents who had migrated to Saltley, Birmingham, in the United Kingdom. His love for drums and percussion was ignited as a teenager, and was a member of various soul bands, such as Penny Black, Rebel, and Roy Gee and the Stax Explosion.
Nisbett joined Steel Pulse in 1977 before the release of their debut album, Handsworth Revolution, and remained with the band as a touring member until the release of 1997’s Rage and Fury. One of the group’s older members, Grizz served as the main drummer in the group until 1998, when he gave up the honours to Conrad Kelly, but continued to play percussion. Nisbett retired from the band in 2001 due to health concerns, on good terms.
