News: Byron 'the Dragon' Lee's new fire

His absence from the Jamaica Carnival observances earlier this year was deeply felt; even as he spoke to the Observer whilst seated inside the reception area at Radio Jamaica, several persons come up to tell him and to just express their good wishes. If goodwill was currency, Byron Lee would likely surpass the Top 10 of the Forbes Richest List combined.

But 'the Dragon', who, for the past 50 years, has been a driving force behind the development of Jamaican popular music, had to have his 'flame' focussed in another area.

Lee spoke at some length about his recent operation and procedures carried out in his battle against cancer of the bladder. "They had to remove my bladder, and beyond that, my prostate and my appendix," he relates. "What they've done is a very new procedure in which my small and large intestines have been cut and rejoined in a sort of 'new bladder' which obviously not like a normal human bladder, but which over time, say a few years, will give me the functional use."

With only six months gone since the operation, it's still early days but despite being visibly weakened, the outgoing nature and generosity of spirit that are his trademarks remain undiminished in conversation. By Lee's own account, they have been strengthened by a new spiritual perspective acquired in the process.

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