President of Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union Percival Sweeting passed away yesterday after battling a long-term illness.

Mr. Sweeting, who was in his 60s, was the president of the union for over 13 years.

Vice President of the Bahamas Musicians and Entertainers Union Ronnie Armbrister said Sweeting’s passing is a tremendous loss for the country.

“He put a lot in place at the hotels for the musicians and he was a champion for the labour movement in this country,” he said in an interview with the Bahama Journal.

Former board member of the union Fred Munnings called Sweeting “an honorable gentleman”.

“He was supportive of moving the entertainment industry in favour of Bahamian musicians over the years,” he said.

“He was a very low key kind of fella. But he was very strong in his advocacy for the union the development of Bahamian music and supporting Bahamian musicians and entertainers not only locally but trying to create new markets locally. He would always support those efforts when we went into Atlantic City and other international opportunities for musicians. He was quite supportive for those kinds of experiences.”

Sweeting is survived by his wife and one daughter and a son.