Dennis Brown

Cited by Bob Marley as his favourite singer, Dennis Brown made his public debut at the age of 11, performing with the group Fabulous Falcons. As a result he was booked on package shows featuring American ballad singers on which he was billed as "the boy wonder" and released his first single No Man Is An Island at the age of 12 in 1969 for Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label. It made Brown a star in Jamaica and led to many other hits, while he also sang back-up with established acts like Ken Boothe and Bob Andy. His international breakthrough came in 1973 with Money In My Pocket, which he followed with more serious material like Africa and Love Jah, demonstrating his Rastafarian beliefs. His 1977 album Visions Of Dennis Brown made him a reggae superstar and in the early 1980s he broadened his style to incorporate a more poppy approach that fitted in with the new dancehall era of reggae; and collaborated with Gregory Isaacs on the highly-rated Two Bad Superstars Meet, which was followed by another duo album Judge Not and the hit single Big All Round. Brown remained hugely popular through the 1990s until he died after suffering a collapsed lung in 1999.