Major Mackerel was hospitalised at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) on Wednesday (July 14) sources close to the veteran entertainer have disclosed.

It is understood that Major Mackerel, christened Garfield Dixon, was kept in the hospital overnight for observation, after he vomited blood and was taken there. The doctors were unclear of the reason for his illness.

It is the latest in a series of illnesses that the entertainer has been battling in recent years. One of his legs was amputated last year at the same hospital.

In recent years, he has been living both in Jamaica and Flatbush, New York in the United States and made headlines in October 2009 when he was slashed across the head and hand during a dispute with a jealous husband outside his East Flatbush home.

Among his hits are Pretty Looks Done, Dutty Bungle, Nuh Run Dung Man, Don Man and Cow Cod.

These were done while the entertainer was at the top of his craft during the 1980s and early 1990s.