[4] He was educated at Kingston's Alpha Boys School, where he later tutored his younger schoolmate Rico Rodriguez playing the trombone.

On 2 January 1965, Drummond's live-in lover, Anita "Marguerita" Mahfood, was found dead with four stab wounds to the chest.

[9] Drummond was ruled criminally insane and imprisoned at Bellevue Asylum, Kingston, where he remained until his death four years later.

[7] In 2013, a ballet telling the story of Drummond's life was performed by the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica.

Don Drummond: The Genius and Tragedy of the World's Greatest Trombonist by Heather Augustyn features a foreword by Delfeayo Marsalis.