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The Most Famous

MUSICIANS from Jamaica

This page contains a list of the greatest Jamaican Musicians. The pantheon dataset contains 2,662 Musicians, 16 of which were born in Jamaica. This makes Jamaica the birth place of the 24th most number of Musicians behind Ireland and South Korea.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Jamaican Musicians of all time. This list of famous Jamaican Musicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Jamaican Musicians.

1. Bob Marley (1945 - 1981)

With an HPI of 84.72, Bob Marley is the most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 125 different languages on wikipedia.

Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of the genre, Marley fused elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady in his music and was renowned for his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley's contribution to music increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide and made him a global figure in popular culture. Over the course of his career, Marley became known as a Rastafarian icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. He is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music and culture and identity, and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. He also supported legalisation of cannabis, and advocated for Pan-Africanism. In 1976, Marley survived an assassination attempt in his home, which was believed to be politically motivated.Born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, Marley began his professional musical career in 1963, after forming the group Teenagers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, which, after several name changes, would become the Wailers. The group released its debut studio album The Wailing Wailers in 1965, which contained the single "One Love", a reworking of "People Get Ready"; the song was popular worldwide, and established the group as a rising figure in reggae. The Wailers released an additional 11 studio albums, and after signing to Island Records, the band's name became Bob Marley and the Wailers. While initially employing louder instrumentation and singing, the group began engaging in rhythmic-based song construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which coincided with Marley's conversion to Rastafari. Around this time, Marley relocated to London, and the group embodied their musical shift with the release of the album The Best of The Wailers (1971).The group began to gain international attention after signing to Island, and touring in support of the albums Catch a Fire and Burnin' (both 1973). Following the disbandment of the Wailers a year later, Marley carried on under the band's name. The album Natty Dread (1974) received positive reception. In 1975, following the global popularity of Eric Clapton's version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff", Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, with a live version of "No Woman, No Cry", from the Live! album. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the United States, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which reached the Top 50 of the Billboard Soul Charts. A few months after Rastaman Vibration's release, Marley survived an assassination attempt at his home in Jamaica, which prompted him to permanently relocate to London, where he recorded the album Exodus, which incorporated elements of blues, soul, and British rock, and enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success. In 1977, Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma; he died as a result of the illness in 1981, shortly after baptism into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. His fans around the world expressed their grief, and he received a state funeral in Jamaica. The greatest hits album Legend was released in 1984, and became the best-selling reggae album of all time. Marley also ranks as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide. He was posthumously honoured by Jamaica soon after his death with a designated Order of Merit by his nation. In 1994, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone ranked him No. 11 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. and No. 98 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. His other achievements include a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and induction into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.

2. Peter Tosh (1944 - 1987)

With an HPI of 59.27, Peter Tosh is the 2nd most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 42 different languages.

Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963–1976), after which he established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. He was murdered in 1987 during a home invasion.

3. Lee "Scratch" Perry (1936 - 2021)

With an HPI of 57.87, Lee "Scratch" Perry is the 3rd most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development of dub music with his early adoption of remixing and studio effects to create new instrumental or vocal versions of existing reggae tracks. He worked with and produced for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Marley and the Wailers, Junior Murvin, The Congos, Max Romeo, Adrian Sherwood, Beastie Boys, Ari Up, The Clash, The Orb, and many others.

4. Desmond Dekker (1941 - 2006)

With an HPI of 51.58, Desmond Dekker is the 4th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Desmond Dekker (16 July 1941 – 25 May 2006) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group the Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had one of the earliest international reggae hits with "Israelites" (1968). Other hits include "007 (Shanty Town)" (1967), "It Mek" (1969) and "You Can Get It If You Really Want" (1970).

5. Sean Paul (1973 - )

With an HPI of 49.95, Sean Paul is the 5th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 51 different languages.

Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques (born 9 January 1973) is a Jamaican dancehall deejay. He released his first album, Stage One, in 2000. However, it was in 2002 that he gained international fame after releasing his next album, Dutty Rock. The single "Get Busy" topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States, as did "Temperature" (2005), off his third album, The Trinity. Paul frequently invokes the nickname "Sean da Paul", originating from the similarity between his stage name and cricketer Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Most of his albums have been nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album, with Dutty Rock winning the award. Paul has been featured in many other singles, including chart-toppers "Baby Boy" by Beyoncé, "Breathe" by Blu Cantrell, "What About Us" by The Saturdays, "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit, "Cheap Thrills" by Sia, and "Fuego" by DJ Snake. "Cheap Thrills" and "Rockabye", along with Paul's own "No Lie" (2016), each have over 1 billion views on YouTube, with "Rockabye" having reached over 2.7 billion views.

6. DJ Kool Herc (1955 - )

With an HPI of 49.77, DJ Kool Herc is the 6th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Clive Campbell (born April 16, 1955), better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican American DJ who is credited with being one of the founders of hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in 1973. Nicknamed the Father of Hip-Hop, Campbell began playing hard funk records of the sort typified by James Brown. Campbell began to isolate the instrumental portion of the record which emphasized the drum beat—the "break"—and switch from one break to another. Using the same two-turntable set-up of disco DJs, he used two copies of the same record to elongate the break. This breakbeat DJing, using funky drum solos, formed the basis of hip hop music. Campbell's announcements and exhortations to dancers helped lead to the syncopated, rhythmically spoken accompaniment now known as rapping. He called the dancers "break-boys" and "break-girls", or simply b-boys and b-girls, terms that continue to be used fifty years later in the sport of breaking. Campbell's DJ style was quickly taken up by figures such as Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash. Unlike them, he never made the move into commercially recorded hip hop in its earliest years. On November 3, 2023, Campbell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Influence Award category.

7. Prince Buster (1938 - 2016)

With an HPI of 48.04, Prince Buster is the 7th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary music and created a legacy of work that would be drawn upon later by reggae and ska artists.

8. Monty Alexander (1944 - )

With an HPI of 47.05, Monty Alexander is the 8th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Les McCann, and Frank Sinatra. Alexander also sings and plays the melodica. He is known for his surprising musical twists, bright rhythmic sense, and intense dramatic musical climaxes. His recording career has covered many of the well-known American songbook standards, jazz standards, pop hits, and Jamaican songs from his original homeland. Alexander has resided in New York City for many years and performs frequently throughout the world at jazz festivals and clubs.

9. King Tubby (1941 - 1989)

With an HPI of 46.08, King Tubby is the 9th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who influenced the development of dub in the 1960s and 1970s.Tubby's studio work, which saw him elevate the role of the mixing engineer to a creative fame previously only reserved for composers and musicians, would prove to be influential across many genres of popular music. He is often cited as the inventor of the concept of the remix that later became ubiquitous in dance and electronic music production. Singer Mikey Dread stated, "King Tubby truly understood sound in a scientific sense. He knew how the circuits worked and what the electrons did. That's why he could do what he did".

10. Horace Andy (1951 - )

With an HPI of 44.97, Horace Andy is the 10th most famous Jamaican Musician. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Horace Andy (born Horace Keith Hinds, 19 February 1951) is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Man Army" with English trip hop group Massive Attack. He is also famous for a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine". Andy is often described as one of the most respected and influential singers in Jamaica.

People

Pantheon has 16 people classified as musicians born between 1936 and 1978. Of these 16, 7 (43.75%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living musicians include Sean Paul, DJ Kool Herc, and Monty Alexander. The most famous deceased musicians include Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Lee "Scratch" Perry. As of April 2022, 1 new musicians have been added to Pantheon including Junior Murvin.