Owen Grey, one of many first artists to convey Jamaican music to worldwide audiences and a foundational determine within the ska motion, died on Sunday, July 20, in London. He was 86.
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His daughter, Antonitte Grey, confirmed his passing however didn’t disclose a reason for dying. She famous, nevertheless, that the singer had suffered a stroke 4 years in the past and had been identified with lung most cancers in 2019.
Born in St Mary, Jamaica, on July 5, 1939, Grey was a multi-instrumentalist who confirmed musical promise from an early age, successful his first expertise contest at 9. He later honed his craft on the famed Alpha Boys College in Kingston, a coaching floor for a lot of of Jamaica’s most influential musicians.
Grey’s profession started within the late Fifties when he carried out in nightclubs throughout Kingston and recorded “Please Let Me Go,” a breakout hit in Jamaica that additionally discovered success in the UK. However it was his 1960 track “Patricia” — the primary launch on Chris Blackwell’s Island Information — that cemented his legacy as a trailblazer of Jamaican standard music.
He was additionally the primary artist to sing in reward of a sound system — together with his 1959 monitor “On the Seashore,” an ode to Sir Coxsone Dodd’s Downbeat system — serving to to ascertain a convention that may affect generations of dancehall artists.
Grey migrated to the UK in 1962 throughout a wave of West Indian migration and rapidly discovered a following amongst Britain’s Caribbean neighborhood and the rising Mod scene. His dynamic mix of ska, R&B, and rocksteady made him a mainstay in golf equipment and music halls throughout the UK and Europe.
His collaborations with main Jamaican producers corresponding to Prince Buster, Duke Reid, Leslie Kong, and Clement “Coxsone” Dodd helped form the sound of ska, rocksteady, and early reggae. He recorded prolifically all through the Nineteen Sixties and 70s, reaching notable success with songs like “Cupid” (1968) and “Apollo 12” (1970), which turned a skinhead anthem in Britain.
Grey additionally shared the highlight with teen protégée Millie Small, greatest recognized for her 1964 worldwide hit “My Boy Lollipop,” whom he mentored throughout his time at Studio One.
Within the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s, he experimented with roots reggae, gospel, and ballads, discovering renewed recognition in South America after a sequence of collaborations with producer Richards. He later relocated to Miami however continued to report and carry out nicely into his 70s.
In recognition of his lifetime contributions to Jamaican music, Grey was awarded the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) by the Jamaican authorities in 2023. As a result of in poor health well being, he was unable to journey to Kingston for the ceremony, however was offered with the honour on the Jamaican Excessive Fee in London in April 2024.
Owen Grey is survived by quite a few kids, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and two sisters.
He leaves behind a storied legacy as one of many architects of Jamaican music’s world attain — a voice that resonated throughout ska, rocksteady, and reggae, and one which helped lay the muse for the island’s wealthy musical tapestry.
