KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Sugar Minott, a smooth-voiced singer and producer who helped to popularize reggae music, has died. He was 54.

Minott died Saturday at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Jamaica's capital, Kingston, his wife Maxine Stowe said Sunday. She did not disclose the cause of death.

Two months ago, Minott had canceled performances in Canada after suffering chest pains.

Born in Kingston in May 1956, the singer, whose real name was Lincoln Barrington Minott, launched his musical career as a youngster in the late 1960s as a member of the African Brothers reggae trio.

He started a successful solo career in the 1970s, gaining a following in Jamaica's dancehalls with songs like "Vanity" and "Mr. DC" while recording for the famed Studio One, the Caribbean island's first black-owned music studio.