The Most Famous

SINGERS from Jamaica

This page contains a list of the greatest Jamaican Singers. The pantheon dataset contains 4,381 Singers, 24 of which were born in Jamaica. This makes Jamaica the birth place of the 32nd most number of Singers behind Romania, and Mexico.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Jamaican Singers of all time. This list of famous Jamaican Singers 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 Singers.

1. Grace Jones (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 63.69, Grace Jones is the most famous Jamaican Singer. Her biography has been translated into 46 different languages on wikipedia.

Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter, model and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for fashion houses such as Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo, and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue. She notably worked with photographers such as Jean-Paul Goude, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, and Hans Feurer, and became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features. Beginning in 1977, Jones embarked on a music career, securing a record deal with Island Records and initially becoming a high-profile figure of New York City's Studio 54-centered disco scene. In the early 1980s, she moved toward a new wave style that drew on reggae, funk, post-punk, and pop music, frequently collaborating with both the graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude and the musical duo Sly & Robbie. She scored Top 40 entries on the UK Singles Chart with "Private Life", "Pull Up to the Bumper", "I've Seen That Face Before", and "Slave to the Rhythm". In 1982, she released the music video collection A One Man Show, directed by Goude, which earned her a nomination for Best Video Album at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards. Her most popular albums include Warm Leatherette (1980), Nightclubbing (1981), and Slave to the Rhythm (1985). As an actress, Jones appeared in several indie films prior to landing her first mainstream appearance as Zula in the fantasy-action film Conan the Destroyer (1984) alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sarah Douglas, and subsequently appeared in the James Bond movie A View to a Kill (1985) as May Day, and starred as a vampire in Vamp (1986); all of which earned her nominations for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1992, Jones acted in the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang, and contributed to the soundtrack. She also appeared alongside Tim Curry in the 2001 film Wolf Girl. Jones was ranked 82nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll (1999). In 2008, she was honored with a Q Idol Award. Jones influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980s and has been cited as an inspiration for multiple artists, including Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Solange, Lorde, Róisín Murphy, Brazilian Girls, Nile Rodgers, Santigold, and Basement Jaxx. In 2016, Billboard ranked her as the 40th greatest dance club artist of all time.

2. Jimmy Cliff (b. 1948)

With an HPI of 58.40, Jimmy Cliff is the 2nd most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.

James Chambers, OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as "Many Rivers to Cross", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "The Harder They Come", "Reggae Night", and "Hakuna Matata", and his covers of Cat Stevens's "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" from the film Cool Runnings. He starred in the film The Harder They Come, which helped popularize reggae around the world, and Club Paradise. Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

3. Liz Mitchell (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 57.86, Liz Mitchell is the 3rd most famous Jamaican Singer. Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Elizabeth Rebecca Pemberton-Mitchell (born 12 July 1952) is a Jamaican-British singer, best known as one of the original singers of the 1970s disco/reggae band Boney M.

4. Burning Spear (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 51.52, Burning Spear is the 4th most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots artists to emerge from the 1970s. Winston Rodney was born in Saint Ann's Bay, Saint Ann, Jamaica. He is married to Sonia Rodney. As a young man he listened to the R&B, soul and jazz music transmitted by the US radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica. Curtis Mayfield is cited by Rodney as a major US musical influence along with James Brown. Rodney was deeply influenced as a young man by the views of the political activist Marcus Garvey, especially with regard to the exploration of the themes of Pan-Africanism and self-determination. In 1969, Bob Marley, who was also from Saint Ann, advised Rodney to approach Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label after Rodney sought his advice during a casual conversation. Burning Spear was originally Rodney's group, named after a military award given by Jomo Kenyatta, the first President of an independent Kenya, and included bass singer Rupert Willington. The duo auditioned for Dodd in 1969 which led to the release of their debut single "Door Peep" (the session also included Cedric Brooks on saxophone). They were then joined by tenor Delroy Hinds. The trio recorded several more singles for Dodd, and two albums, before they moved on to work with Jack Ruby in 1975. Their first recording with Ruby, "Marcus Garvey", was intended as an exclusive track for Ruby's Ocho Rios–based Hi-Power sound system, but was released as a single, giving them an immediate hit, and was followed by "Slavery Days". These recordings featured the backing band The Black Disciples, which included Earl "Chinna" Smith, Valentine Chin, Robbie Shakespeare and Leroy Wallace. The group worked with Ruby on their third album, Marcus Garvey (1975), which was immediately successful and led to a deal with Island Records to give the album a wider release. Island remixed and altered the speed of some of the tracks, much to the annoyance of fans and the group, leading Rodney to set up his own Burning Music label for future releases where he would have full control, although further releases followed on Island including Garvey's Ghost, a dub version of the Marcus Garvey album, and Man in the Hills. In late 1976, Rodney split from both Ruby and group members Willington and Hinds, and from that point on used the name Burning Spear for himself alone. Dry and Heavy followed in 1977, self-produced but still on Island, and with a sizeable following by now in the United Kingdom, he performed in London that year with members of Aswad acting as his backing band for a sold-out show at the Rainbow Theatre, which was recorded and released as the album Live!. Aswad also provided backing on his next studio album, Social Living (1978), which also featured Sly Dunbar and Rico Rodriguez. A dub version of the album, Living Dub (1979), was mixed by Sylvan Morris. His profile was raised further by an appearance in the film Rockers, performing "Jah no Dead". In 1980, Rodney left Island Records and set up the Burning Music Production Company, which he signed to EMI, debuting on the label with Hail H.I.M., recorded at Marley's Tuff Gong studio and co-produced by Aston Barrett. A Sylvan Morris dub version followed in the form of Living Dub Volume Two. In 1982, Rodney signed with Heartbeat Records with a series of well-received albums following, including the 1985 Grammy-nominated Resistance. He returned to Island in the early 1990s, releasing two albums before rejoining Heartbeat. This arrangement in which Burning Music Productions delivered completed albums of music to EMI, Island and Heartbeat Records for worldwide distribution lasted for many years. When Heartbeat ceased releasing new material, Burning Music took matters into their own hands and began to release music solely through their own imprint. Albums released by Heartbeat through an agreement with Burning Music include: The World Should Know (1993), Rasta Business (1995), Appointment with His Majesty (1997) and the Grammy award winning Calling Rastafari (1999) which was the last completed album to be solely pressed by an outside label. Burning Spear spent decades touring extensively, and several live albums have been issued including Burning Spear Live, Live in Paris, Live in South Africa, Live in Vermont, Peace and Love Live, Live at Montreux Jazz Festival and (A)live 1997. Touring the world time and time again, the band's live sound matured and grew more sophisticated. While remaining firmly rooted in reggae, accents of free jazz, funk and psychedelic music were increasingly in evidence. His 1999 album, Calling Rastafari brought his first Grammy Award in 2000, a feat which he repeated with Jah Is Real in 2009. In 2000 Home to My Roots Tour he performed in Cape Town, South Africa alongside other reggae icon Joseph Hill with Culture (band). In 2002 he and his wife, Sonia Rodney who has produced a number of his albums, restarted Burning Music Records, giving him a greater degree of artistic control. Since the mid-1990s, he has been based in Queens in New York City. Burning Spear was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer on 15 October 2007. Since establishing their own label, Winston and Sonia Rodney have released nearly forty singles, CDs, DVDs and vinyl albums on the Burning Music imprint. Many of these albums have been deluxe editions of albums previously available on other labels and often include bonus tracks and DVD footage. In 2016 Rodney announced his retirement, but in 2022 it was announced that he would perform at the Rototom Sunsplash festival in Spain, and on the 'Welcome to Jamrock' cruise in December. Rodney announced three shows in California in July 2022, in San Francisco on July 22, San Diego on July 23, and Los Angeles on July 24. He also announced a show at the Levitt Pavilion, Denver, Colorado on July 30, 2022. These shows were followed by two dates in the UK, at Forum Birmingham on August 13 and the O2 Academy, Brixton, London on August 14. On August 14, 2023 he performed a highly acclaimed, packed-out show in the Barby Barby Club live music venue in Tel Aviv, Israel and on August 15, 2023 in Megiddo, Israel where he appeared together with Ehud Banai. Burning Spear has won two Grammy Awards for Best Reggae Album; one at the 42nd Grammy Awards in 2000 for Calling Rastafari, and one for 2009's Jah Is Real. He has been nominated for a total of 12 Grammy Awards. Nominations for Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album: 1986 Resistance 1988 People of the World 1990 Live in Paris Zenith '88 1991 Mek We Dweet 1994 The World Should Know 1996 Rasta Business 1998 Appointment with His Majesty 2000 Calling Rastafari (winner) 2004 Free Man 2006 Our Music 2008 The Burning Spear Experience 2009 Jah Is Real (winner) 2024 No Destroyer Official website

5. Bunny Wailer (1947 - 2021)

With an HPI of 50.51, Bunny Wailer is the 5th most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.

6. Max Romeo (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 50.49, Max Romeo is the 6th most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith; 22 November 1944) is a Jamaican reggae and roots reggae recording musician who has achieved chart success in his home country and in the United Kingdom. He had several hits with the vocal group the Emotions. His song "Wet Dream" (1968) included overtly sexual lyrics and launched a new style of reggae. Born in St. D'Acre, St. Ann, Jamaica, Romeo left home at the age of 14 and worked on a sugar plantation outside Clarendon, before winning a local talent competition when he was 18. This prompted a move to the capital, Kingston, in order to embark on a musical career. In 1965, Romeo joined up with Kenneth Knight and Lloyd Shakespeare in The Emotions, whilst also working in sales for the Caltone label. The group were unsuccessful in auditions for other producers, but Ken Lack offered them an audition after overhearing Smith singing to himself while working. In 1966, the group had their first hit, with the Lack-produced "(Buy You) A Rainbow". The Emotions went on to release several hit singles, and by 1968, the singer, by that point known as Max Romeo began his solo career in 1968, but did not have any great successes on the charts. Romeo returned to The Emotions, now recording for Phil Pratt, and founded a new band, The Hippy Boys. 1968 saw the breakthrough in Romeo's career, when he wrote "Wet Dream", a song that became a massive hit in Jamaica. The track was banned by the BBC Radio in the UK due to its overtly sexual lyrics, although the singer claimed that it was about a leaking roof. Nevertheless, "Wet Dream" became a Top 10 hit in the UK, where it spent six months in the chart. Further records that came out in 1969 were "Belly Woman", "Wine Her Goosie" and "Mini-Skirt Vision", as well as Max Romeo's debut LP, A Dream. Romeo was banned from performing at several venues during a tour of the UK. In 1970, Romeo returned to Jamaica setting up Romax, an unsuccessful record label and sound system, and released in 1971 his second album, Let the Power Fall. It included a number of politically charged songs, most advocating the democratic socialist People's National Party (PNP), which chose his song "Let the Power Fall" as their theme song for the 1972 Jamaican general election. After this, Romeo worked with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry on the album Revelation Time (1975), which featured the classic song "Three Blind Mice", an adaptation of the nursery rhyme with lyrics about a police raid on a party. In 1976, Romeo released War Ina Babylon, an album perceived as his best work. The politically and religiously themed album included the popular single "Chase the Devil", which would become one of his most known songs. Shortly after this, the pair fell out, leaving Romeo to self-produce his follow-up album, Reconstruction, which, however, could not match the success of its predecessors when it was released in 1977. In 1978, Romeo moved to New York City, where he co-wrote (with Hair producer Michael Butler) the musical Reggae, which he also starred in. In 1980, he appeared as a backing vocalist on "Dance" on The Rolling Stones album Emotional Rescue. In 1981, the favour was returned when Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones co-produced and played on Romeo's album Holding Out My Love to You, an unsuccessful attempt to break into the North American market. The rest of his output during the decade went practically unnoticed, with Romeo finding work at a New York electronics store. John Holt encouraged him to return to Jamaica, and he lived at Holt's house in Meadowbrook for a year. Romeo visited the UK again in 1992, recording albums Fari – Captain of My Ship (1992) and Our Rights (1995) with Jah Shaka. He joined up with UK rhythm section/production team Mafia & Fluxy in 1998 for the album Selassie I Forever. A compilation album, The Many Moods of Max Romeo, was released in the UK in 1999. In 2014, he released the album Father and Sons, a collaboration with his sons Ronaldo and Romario (known as the duo Rominal). His daughter Azana Smith has also started a recording career under the name Xana Romeo. In 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and Polygram Publishing, Inc. for $15 million, claiming that he had not been given royalties for his work for over 50 years. List of reggae musicians List of roots reggae artists Island Records discography Pama Records

7. Cedella Booker (1926 - 2008)

With an HPI of 49.79, Cedella Booker is the 7th most famous Jamaican Singer. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Sidilla Editha "Cedella" Booker (previously Marley, née Malcolm; July 23, 1926 – April 8, 2008) was a Jamaican singer and writer. She was the mother of reggae musician Bob Marley.

8. Shaggy (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 49.58, Shaggy is the 8th most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 40 different languages.

Orville Richard Burrell (born October 22, 1968), better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae recording artist who scored hits with the songs "It Wasn't Me", "Boombastic", "In the Summertime", "Oh Carolina", and "Angel". He has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning twice for Best Reggae Album with Boombastic in 1996 and 44/876 with Sting in 2019, and has won the Brit Award for International Male Solo Artist in 2002. In 2007, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction with the rank of Commander. In 2022, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Brown University.

9. Carl Douglas (b. 1942)

With an HPI of 47.11, Carl Douglas is the 9th most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Carlton George Douglas (born 10 May 1942) is a Jamaican-British singer best known for his 1974 disco single "Kung Fu Fighting". Based in the United Kingdom, Douglas released three studio albums, most notably Kung Fu Fighting and Other Great Love Songs (1975), before fading into cultural obscurity as a one-hit wonder.

10. Errol Brown (1948 - 2015)

With an HPI of 46.80, Errol Brown is the 10th most famous Jamaican Singer. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Errol Ainsworth Glenstor Brown MBE (born Lester Errol Brown; 12 November 1943 – 6 May 2015) was a British-Jamaican singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the soul and funk band Hot Chocolate. In 2004, Brown received the Ivor Novello Award for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music. His break in music came in 1969 when he recorded a version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance" with a band called "Hot Chocolate Band". Unable to change the lyrics without Lennon's permission, he sent a copy to his record label, Apple, and the song was released with Lennon's approval. The Hot Chocolate albums were produced by Mickie Most and recorded at the Rak Records studio. Most of their songs were written by Brown and Hot Chocolate bassist Tony Wilson (before Wilson's departure in 1975), including "Love Is Life", "You Could Have Been a Lady", "Brother Louie", "Emma", and "You Sexy Thing". The band had at least one number one charting song on the UK singles chart from 1970 to 1984. Brown left the group in 1985 to take a hiatus from music. He soon went on to have a solo career, achieving success in the clubs with the 1987 single "Body Rocking", produced by Richard James Burgess. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1997 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel on his birthday. Brown was a supporter of the Conservative Party and performed at the party's conference in 1984. In 1981, he performed at the wedding reception of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, at Buckingham Palace. Brown retired from performing after a farewell tour in 2009. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II named Brown a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to popular music for the United Kingdom". In 2004, he received an Ivor Novello Award for outstanding contributions to British music. Brown was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on 12 November 1943, but moved to England when he was 11 years old. His father, Ivan, was a police officer, and his mother, Edna, died when Brown was 19 years old. After leaving school, he worked as a clerk. Brown married Ginette Marie in 1976, and they had two daughters. Brown owned National Hunt horses, including Gainsay, who won the Ritz Club trophy at Cheltenham in 1987. Brown, known for his signature bald head, first suited the look after he was encouraged by friends to shave all his hair off as a joke. Errol liked the way it looked, and remained with a shaven head for the rest of his life. Brown died from liver cancer at his home in the Bahamas on 6 May 2015, at the age of 71. "Give Peace a Chance" (1969) "Love Is Life" (1970) "You Could Have Been a Lady" (1971) "Brother Louie" (1973) "Emma" (1974) "You Sexy Thing" (1975) "I'll Put You Together Again" (1976) "So You Win Again" (1977) "Every 1's a Winner" (1978) "No Doubt About It" (1980) "It Started with a Kiss" (1982) "I Gave You My Heart" (1983) 1989: That's How Love Is – WEA 243 925 1992: Secret Rendezvous – East West 4509-90688 1996: Love In This – East West 0630-15260 2001: Still Sexy — The Album – Universal Music TV 138162 (UK No.44) 1987: "Personal Touch" – WEA YZ 130 (UK No. 25) 1987: "Body Rocking" – WEA YZ 162 (UK No. 51) 1988: "Maya" – WEA YZ 313 1989: "Love Goes Up and Down" (UK No. 89) 1990: "Send a Prayer (To Heaven)" (UK No. 83) 1992: "This Time It's Forever" – East West 4509-90064 (Germany No. 26) 1992: "Secret Rendezvous" – East West 4509-90913 1993: "Emmalene (That's No Lie)" – East West 4509-92322 1996: "Ain't No Love in This" – East West 0630-13951 1996: "Change the People's Hearts" – East West 0630-16898 1998: "It Started with a Kiss"1 – EMI CDHOT 101 (UK No. 18) 2001: "Still Sexy (Yes U Are)" – Universal 158940 (UK No. 85) 2001: "Heaven's in the Back Seat of My Cadillac" 2002: "I Love You Everyday" – Universal 0157592 1Credited to Hot Chocolate featuring Errol Brown List of lead vocalists Official website Errol Brown at IMDb Errol Brown interview by Pete Lewis, Blues & Soul February 2009.

People

Pantheon has 27 people classified as Jamaican singers born between 1926 and 1986. Of these 27, 18 (66.67%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Jamaican singers include Grace Jones, Jimmy Cliff, and Liz Mitchell. The most famous deceased Jamaican singers include Bunny Wailer, Cedella Booker, and Errol Brown. As of April 2024, 3 new Jamaican singers have been added to Pantheon including Cedella Booker, Yellowman, and Jacob Miller.