The lo­cal and in­ter­na­tion­al mu­sic com­mu­ni­ty is mourn­ing the loss of leg­endary pan­nist, arranger, com­pos­er and pro­duc­er Robert “Rob­bie” Greenidge, 76, who died yes­ter­day.

Trib­utes have poured in from cul­tur­al or­gan­i­sa­tions, gov­ern­ment of­fi­cials and fel­low mu­si­cians, all prais­ing Greenidge’s im­mense con­tri­bu­tion to the de­vel­op­ment and glob­al recog­ni­tion of the steel­pan.

In a state­ment, the Min­istry of Cul­ture and Com­mu­ni­ty De­vel­op­ment de­scribed Greenidge as a beloved na­tion­al icon whose in­flu­ence ex­tend­ed far be­yond Trinidad and To­ba­go’s shores.