October 15, 2025
Jamaica Stand Up! Stephen Marley, Beenie Man Honor Reggae Icon Allan ‘Skill’ Cole
Bob Marley's former manager, who was a former football star, died Sept. 9.
Stephen Marley, Beenie Man, Carlene Davis, and other reggae stars honored the life of Jamaican football star and former Bob Marley manager, Allan “Skill” Cole at a Thanksgiving service held at Jamaica’s National Arena on Oct. 11.
Cole died Sept. 9 at The University Hospital of the West Indies. He was 74.
While he became a hometown hero for his success as an international football player, Cole played a pivotal role in the growth of reggae music and the respect of Jamaica’s Rastafari community.
Several Jamaican musicians attended the Thanksgiving service to honor Cole and offered musical tributes, including Herman ‘Bongo Herman’ Davis, Dean Frazer, and Denzil ‘Dipstick’ Williams, a close friend of Cole, who delivered a rendition of Joe Higgs’ 1983 song, “Ah So It Go.”
“I choose this song because one of Bob Marley’s teachers, Joe Higgs, he was the person who did that song. It resonated with me so much that I believed it would fit the occasion,” Williams told the crowd, according to The Jamaica Gleamer. “I changed it up to make it accommodating for this event, and the people loved it. I feel really good that I made a proper choice to sing that song, because overall, when all is said and done, life has to go on.”
Williams reflected on his long friendship with Cole, which began during his upbringing in Jamaica’s Trench Town—a neighborhood central to reggae’s early musicians. There, they were influenced by figures like Mortimer Planno, Bob Marley’s mentor, a Jamaican Rastafari elder, drummer, and supporter of Marcus Garvey’s early-20th-century Back-to-Africa movement.
Referred to as “the mecca of music,” Williams recalled Marley’s eagerness to spend time in Trench Town and connect with Cole, who later became tour manager for Bob Marley and The Wailers in the 1970s. Cole is also credited on their Rastaman Vibration album for co-writing the 1976 song “War.” He introduced Marley to lyrics from a speech by Haile Selassie, which he included on the song.
Cole and Marley remained close friends until Marley died in 1981. In 1980, Cole caught Marley when he collapsed while jogging in New York City and carried him back to his hotel.
The celebrated Jamaican is also celebrated for his advocacy against discrimination toward the Rastafari movement, confronting radio stations that refused to play Bob Marley and the Wailers’ 1974 single, “Rebel Music (3 O’Clock Roadblock).”
Cole is survived by his wife, Sharon Cole, and six children.
RELATED CONTENT: Shabba Ranks, Shenseea Join Damian Marley For Jamrock Reggae Cruise 10th Anniversary Lineup
