Pluto Shervington (13 August 1950 – 19 January 2024), also known as Pluto, was a Jamaican reggae musician, singer, engineer, and producer.

Life and career

Leighton Shervington was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 13 August 1950.

Shervington began his career in the early 1970s as a member of the showband Tomorrow’s Children. Inspired by the success of Ernie Smith’s “Duppy or a Gunman” and Tinga Stewart’s “Play de Music”, both delivered in heavy patois, he recorded in a similar style “Ram Goat Liver”, inspiring Lee “Scratch” Perry to produce a popular version with Jimmy Riley.

The follow-up single, “Dat” – about a Rastafarian trying to buy pork (without naming it aloud), contrary to his faith, so that he can afford marijuana – achieved considerable chart success internationally in 1976, reaching the number 6 spot in the UK Singles Chart.  On 19 February Shervington appeared on video, performing the song, on BBC’s Top of the Pops and appeared again the following week on 4 March. Trojan Records capitalized on this success by reissuing his first single, which peaked just outside the top 40 in the UK.

Shervington also scored as a producer, overseeing the creation of the 1975 song “Hooray Festival” performed by Roman Stewart, and “Midnight Rider” by Paul Davidson, which peaked at number 10 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1975.

Shervington moved to Miami, Florida, in the summer of 1977.  He continued to record, and reached the UK top 20 again when “Your Honour”, originally recorded in 1975 but never previously released, was issued in early 1982 together with a new recording “No Honour Among Tiefs”. In 1997, as a guest of honour on Ernie Smith’s celebration of 30 years in the business, Shervington performed alongside Ken Lazarus and the surviving members of the Now Generation band at the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica. Again, in 2001, alongside Ernie Smith, Shervington performed together with the music veteran Lloyd Charmers at the Heineken Startime events for an Independence Showcase, which also included performances from the Abyssinians and Eric Donaldson

Shervington often performed live in Miami, and periodically returned to his homeland for performances. As of 2007 he played solo at Bahama Breeze in Kendall, Florida, and every other Sunday at Black Point Marina in Cutler Bay, with a five piece band. He appeared at the St. Kitts Music Festival on 22 June 2007, sharing the bill with Steel Pulse and Sean Paul, among others. His repertoire covered Bob Marley songs, a staple with the American audience, as well as other material ranging from the Eagles’ “Hotel California” to calypso songs

In addition to his work as a singer, Shervington gained a reputation as a talented bass guitarist, and as a recording engineer, notably engineering Little Roy’s 1974 album, Tafari Earth Uprising. From 2018, when not on tour, Shervington performed solo several times a week at the Bahama Breeze.

Shervington died at a hospital in Miami, Florida, on 19 January 2024 at the age of 73, Gordon Robinson an attorney and social commentator, said his death was a tremendous loss, writing on Twitter: “He was an icon of the day when lyrics were written with linguistic skill and humour, and music was properly structured and arranged.”