Reggae icon Desmond Dekker, singer of the first Jamaican song to become an international hit with 1968's "The Israelites," has died at his home in London. He was 64.

Montreal dub producer Moss Raxlen, who has been working with longtime Dekker guitarist Lynn Tait, said Dekker succumbed to a heart attack.

Born Desmond Dacres in Kingston, Jamaica, Dekker first auditioned for Studio One founder Coxsone Dodd in 1961, but didn't record his first song, "Honour Your Father and Mother," until 1963. Several local hits followed, and Dekker eventually found his own ska backing group, the Aces, a quartet of singing siblings, and churned out a string of ska hits, including the bouncy love letter "This Woman" and "Mount Zion."

In 1967, he recorded the hit "Tougher Than Tough" with Derrick Morgan, and his own rocksteady number, "007 (Shanty Town)," vaulted to the top of the Jamaican charts.

But it wasn't until 1968 that Dekker became an international star. "The Israelites" introduced reggae to a worldwide audience, topping the UK charts and reaching the top 10 in the US.

Although he never had another hit as big as "The Israelites," Dekker continued to churn out singles and albums at a prolific pace in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly on the renowned Trojan label.

Maxell used "The Israelites" in an ad for its cassette tapes in 1990, bringing the song back into public view.

Dekker continued to tour and record in recent years, and had a full schedule of performances lined up for the summer.