SINGERS from Haiti

Top 2

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Haitian Singers of all time. This list of famous Haitian Singers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Wyclef Jean (1969 - )

With an HPI of 45.81, Wyclef Jean is the most famous Haitian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages on wikipedia.

Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( WHY-clef; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper and musician. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a founding member, co-producer and guitarist of the New Jersey hip hop trio The Fugees, alongside Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel. The group released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and The Score (1996), the latter becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. Jean would follow this with the release of his first solo studio album, Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival (1997), which contains the top ten hit "Gone till November". In 1997, Jean was featured on Destiny Child's breakout single "No, No, No". Afterwards, he co-wrote the 1999 singles "My Love Is Your Love" (for Whitney Houston) and "Maria Maria" (for Santana). His second solo album The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book (2000), included the song "911" (featuring Mary J. Blige), and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His third album Masquerade (2002), peaked within the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2006, he was featured on the US Billboard Hot 100 number one single "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira. His sixth studio album Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant (2007), spawned the single "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" (featuring Akon, Niia & Lil Wayne)". Jean performed his single "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)", at the closing ceremony for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In 2007, Jean was appointed Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of Haiti by President René Préval. In 2010, he filed for candidacy in the 2010 Haitian presidential election. However, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council ruled him ineligible to stand for office, as he had not met the constitutional requirement to have been a resident in Haiti for five years prior to the election. Jean's highly publicized efforts to raise relief funds after the 2010 Haitian earthquake were channeled through his charitable organization, Yéle Haiti. The charity, which conducted education and welfare activities in Haiti between 2005 and 2010, effectively closed in 2012. The New York Times reported that much of the money raised by the organization in the Hope for Haiti Now telethon was retained by Jean for his own benefit.He is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, the BET Humanitarian Award, and a Vanguard Award from the NAACP Image Awards, in addition to being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his musical work. In 2011, President Michel Martelly of Haiti awarded Jean with the National Order of Honour and Merit to the rank of Grand Officer. Jean has also been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Jean is one of the artists who have reached the most radio charts on Billboard.

2. Pras (1972 - )

With an HPI of 33.04, Pras is the 2nd most famous Haitian Singer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Prakazrel Samuel Michel (born October 19, 1972), known professionally as Pras (), is an American rapper. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the Grammy-nominated song "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" featuring Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mýa from the film Bulworth, and "Avenues" with Refugee Camp All-Stars and Ky-Mani Marley. He also collaborated with Jean and rock band Queen on the 1998 remix of "Another One Bites the Dust", which reached the top five on the UK Singles Chart. In 2017, he won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Digital Daytime Drama Series, as a producer on the web series The Bay. In 2019, he began to face legal issues when he was charged with criminal conspiracy for allegedly illegally donating to President Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and lobbying the Trump administration to deter investigations into the 1MDB scandal involving fugitive Malaysian businessman Jho Low. On April 26, 2023, Pras was found guilty of 10 criminal counts in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.