Ernie Smith’s death revives royalties dispute over Tears on My Pillow

Ernie Smith’s death has reopened one of reggae’s most stubborn ownership fights, and the money tied up in the dispute is still said to run into the millions. The singer-songwriter, a cornerstone voice in Jamaican music, died on April 16, 2026, at age 80 in a Florida hospital, leaving behind a catalog whose value has long been shadowed by claims that one of his best-known songs was never properly paid for.

Smith had been admitted to hospital on April 7, underwent surgery, and was waiting for another procedure when he died, his wife, Claudette Bailey-Smith, confirmed. His longtime confidante and legal advisor, Merrick Dammar, has said the fight centers on “Tears on My Pillow,” a song Smith originally wrote as “I Can’t Take It” and first released under his own name in 1967. Dammar says Smith was never properly compensated after Johnny Nash recorded it under the newer title.

That version became the defining hit of Nash’s career. “Tears on My Pillow” reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1975 and spent one week at the top, making it Nash’s only UK No. 1 single. The title change added another layer of confusion, because it matched the name of the 1958 Little Anthony and the Imperials classic, a detail Smith’s supporters say helped obscure the song’s origins and the royalties attached to it.

The dispute has put fresh pressure on the old machinery of the reggae business, where song credits, publishing splits and international reissues have too often left Jamaican writers chasing payment long after their songs cross borders. Smith’s case has become a reminder of how vulnerable older artists can be when material is re-recorded, renamed or marketed overseas without clear compensation.

Smith’s legacy reached far beyond this fight. He won the Yamaha Music Festival in Japan in 1972 with “Life Is Just For Living,” and the Jamaican government awarded him the Badge of Honour for Meritorious Service in the Field of Music in 1973. Even so, the argument around “Tears on My Pillow” never really went away, and now his death has made the unfinished business impossible to ignore.