Gregory Isaacs, the Jamaican singer who pioneered the style of reggae music known as lovers rock and became one of the genre's major stars in the 1970s, has died. He was 59.

Isaacs died Monday at his home in London, the BBC reported. He had cancer.

Known as the "Cool Ruler," as he styled himself in the title of a 1978 album, Isaacs cut a dapper figure in his designer suits and silk shirts — an image suited to a style of music that emphasized romantic yearning over reggae's more traditional themes of spiritual and political transformation.