Toots Is Back With His Maytals

After a three-year absence from touring because of an injury to frontman Toots Hibbert, reggae greats Toots & the Maytals are back on the road, and have just announced a new UK tour.

The group — founded in Kingston, Jamaica fully 55 years ago — will play North American dates in June, including one on the 17th at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles. They will then head to the UK for an eight-date tour, preceded by two festival appearances.

These are at The Big Feastival on 28 August and Madness presents House of Common (“for the love of the common people”) on Clapham Common in London, on the 29th. They’re joined on that bill by fellow reggae legend Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. The Maytals’ own dates start in Bristol on 31 August, ending on 10 September in Manchester. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (6).

Toots’ layoff from live work was forced upon him after a drunk fan threw a glass bottle onto the stage at a festival in Richmond, Virginia in May 2013, causing him a head injury. He has undergone intensive medical therapy and has now been given the go-ahead by his doctor to resume touring.

“It has been a difficult three years,” says the frontman. “But I am very happy to be able to now get back together with my musical family and prepare to share my music once again with my incredible fans.”

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