Legendary 'Godfather of rap' Gil Scott-Heron dies at 62

The 62-year-old star - who was the son of Gil Heron, Celtic's first black player - was recently judged by critics to be back on form after a decade beset with drug-related jail terms.

He was best known for his savage media satire The Revolution Will Not Be Televised in the early 1970s, which epitomised his groundbreaking spoken-word performances set to music.

Jamie Byng, director of Edinburgh-based Canongate Books, which published two of Scott-Heron's novels and his complete lyrics, said: "He was one of the most singular and brilliant recording artists of the 20th century.

"He was extremely funny and very sharp, and totally uncompromising in seeing through so much of the nonsense of the world to the heart of the matter.

"He is a big loss, but I'm consoled by his memory and I hope this sends people back to his music, which is a remarkable body of work."

Byng, who first met the artist when he performed in the capital 20 years ago, said Scott-Heron had become "one of the most important friendships of my life".

The two put on shows together and Scott-Heron was the godfather of two of Byng's children, Marley and Leo.

The artist, whose work spanned rap, soul, jazz and blues, influenced generations of artists including hip-hop star Kanye West. However, he rejected the "Godfather of rap" title bestowed upon him.

He described his signature mix of percussion, politics and performed poetry as bluesology or Third World music. Themes included apartheid, racism and nuclear weapons.

But then he said it was simply "black music or black American music... because black Americans are now a tremendously diverse essence of all the places we've come from, and the music and rhythms we brought with us."

In the introduction to his 1990 collection of poems, Now and Then, he wrote: "If there was any individual initiative that I was responsible for, it might have been that there was music in certain poems of mine, with complete progression and repeating 'hooks,' which made them more like songs than just recitations with percussion."

Scott-Heron recorded more than a dozen albums, with the most recent, I'm New Here, released last year.

It was widely acclaimed as a return to form and was named in December as one of the 20 best albums of the year in the music critics' prestigious "poll of polls" compiled by HMV.

Doris Nolan, a spokeswoman for Scott-Heron's US record label, said he died on Friday afternoon at St Luke's Hospital in New York City after becoming sick following a European trip.She said: "We're all sort of shattered."

Byng said he understood that the artist had developed a skin infection from an insect bite while in Europe.

He said: "He had been weak for some time and had not always been in the strongest of health for many years."

Scott-Heron, who battled with drug addiction, announced five years ago that he was HIV-positive.

He was born in Chicago in 1949 and raised in Tennessee and New York.

He was shaped by the politics of the 1960s and black literature, especially of the Harlem Renaissance.

He started out as a novelist, with his murder-mystery The Vulture being published when he was 19. The book, together with his social satire The Nigger Factory, were republished by Canongate.

Scott-Heron remained in the US when his father, Gil Heron, moved to Scotland in 1951 to play for Celtic after being spotted by a club talent scout while at Detroit Corinthians.

The Jamaican-born striker became nicknamed the Black Arrow for his rapid pace but only stayed at the Glasgow club for a year despite scoring on his debut against Morton.

He later played for Third Lanark and the Kidderminster Harriers in the West Midlands before returning home to rejoin Corinthians.

Heron Snr died three years ago, aged 87, with fans often wearing Celtic tops at his son's Scottish gigs in his memory.

Scott-Heron joked at one concert: "There you go again - once again overshadowed by a parent."