Eric Donaldson

Eric Donaldson (born 11 June 1947 in St. Catherine, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter.

Biography

Born in Bog Walk, about 2 miles from Kent Village], Donaldson first recorded for Studio One in 1964, although producer Clement Dodd declined to release the material. In the mid-1960s he formed The West Indians with Leslie Burke and Hector Brooks, and they had a hit with the J.J. Johnson-produced "Right On Time" in 1968, going on to record with Lee "Scratch" Perry and subsequently changing their name to the Kilowatts, but without further success.

Donaldson then pursued a solo career, and submmitted "Cherry Oh Baby" to the 1971 Jamaican Festival Song Competition, going on to win the competition and giving him a big Jamaican hit single. Donaldson has won the competition six times, in 1971, 1977, 1978, 1984, 1993 and 1997. "Cherry Oh Baby" has been covered by both The Rolling Stones (on their 1976 album, Black and Blue) and UB40 (on their 1983 album, Labour of Love). The riddim has remained extremely popular – over thirty cover versions have been recorded, including an update by Donaldson himself. Two of his festival winners ("Sweet Jamaica" (1977) and "Land of My Birth" (1978)) were written by Winston Wallace. In an online poll held in 2013 by the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, "Land of My Birth" was voted the most popular winner in the contest's history.

Judy Boucher

Judy Boucher (born in St. Vincent in the Caribbean) is a reggae and R&B singer. Her first solo song "Dreaming of a Little Island" was a hit in the reggae charts in 1985, and she is best known for her international hit single "Can't Be With You Tonight", which reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1987.

Music career

After being in her brother's band Judy Jack and the Beanstalk, she later became a solo artist. Her music career took a giant step circa 1970. In 1985, Felix Da Silva, a local songwriter, wanted a singer to cover his songs and Boucher was able to record several of them, including "Dreaming of a Little Island", which enjoyed the number 1 slot in the reggae charts and was subsequently used as the Jamaica Tourist Board's theme tune. An album was released, entitled Can't Be With You Tonight which would change the "ordinary country girl" into an international entertainer by the end of 1987. The title track was released as a single and became a worldwide hit in 1987, also peaking at number 2 in the UK.

Romain Virgo

Romain Virgo (born 24 January 1990) is a singer from Jamaica, specializing in the lovers rock style of reggae music.

Biography

Virgo hails from Stepney in Saint Ann Parish. He rose to prominence in the television choir contest All Together Sing in 2006, going on to win the Digicel Rising Stars competition in 2007, two months before his graduation from high school in St. Ann, Jamaica. At 17 years old, he was the youngest contestant to ever win top prize at the competition, which included a JA$1,000,000 prize and a recording contract with Greensleeves Records. A few weeks after winning the competition, Virgo met Donovan Germain who produced his first hit record "Mi Caan Sleep" on the Penthouse label. Several hit singles followed, including "Wanna Go Home", "Live Mi Life", and "Alton's Medley". In June 2010, VP Records released his debut self-titled album.

After winning the Digicel competition, Virgo performed dances and stageshows, including Rebel Salute, Passa Passa, and Weddy Weddy. In the autumn of 2010, he joined fellow artists Capleton and Munga on a tour of the United States. In addition to his music career, Virgo is pursuing his bachelor's degree at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, majoring in voice and minoring in keyboard.

Jah Cure

Jah Cure, or Iyah Cure (born Siccature Alcock on 11 October 1978 in Hanover, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae musician, who was raised in Kingston. He was given the name Jah Cure by Capleton whom he met while growing up in Kingston. Jah Cure is also known as the King of Lovers Rock and Roots Reggae.

Career

His first big break came in March 1997 when he released the single "King in this Jungle" which was a duet with Sizzla. The single was produced by Beres Hammond who went on to become his mentor. He then released a steady stream of singles that won him critical and popular acclaim. Beres Hammond eventually took Cure under his tutelage and began mentoring him and producing his music in the studio. In 1998, Cure performed on a European tour and visited several Caribbean Islands with Beres Hammond and the Harmony House Family.

In November 1998, while driving around Montego Bay, Cure was pulled over by the police and arrested on charges of gun possession, robbery and rape. He was prosecuted before the Gun Court in April 1999, found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Cure was transferred from the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre to the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre, which had a digital recording studio the inmates could use. It was there that Cure released three albums and a number of singles, some of which have topped the Jamaican chart. His first album Free Jah's Cure The Album the Truth was released in 2000, it was followed by Ghetto Life in 2003 and Freedom Blues in 2005. More recently Cure has released the songs "Love Is", "Longing For" and "True Reflections", showing his unique voice and lyrical ability.

Busy Signal

Glendale Goshia Gordon (born 24 January 1982), better known by his stage name Busy Signal, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae artist.

Biography

Gordon was born in Saint Ann Parish, living in areas in West and East Kingston such as Tivoli Gardens, Papine, and Spanish Town. He is a past student of Brown's Town Comprehensive High School. Known as one of the artists leading the contemporary dancehall movement, Busy Signal has been a large part of the scene since 2003. His first hit single, "Step Out", was one of the most popular dancehall songs in 2005. A music video for "Step Out" was released shortly afterwards.

He was nicknamed Busy Signal by his friends because of the fact that he is constantly busy. His hit tracks for 2007/2008 were "Nah Go A Jail Again", "Smoke Some High Grade", "Tic Toc" and the track entitled "Unknown Number" has made tremendous airplay and dancehall reviews especially in the Caribbean and the US. He has released a hit dancehall album entitled Step Out.

On 22 September 2008, Busy Signal released his second studio album titled Loaded, a 15 track compilation on VP Records of well known dancehall hits such as "Jail", "Whine Pon Di Edge", "These Are the Days", among others, as well as never-heard-before exclusive tracks such as "People So Evil" and "Hustle Hard".