The Empress of Reggae Marcia Griffiths is celebrating 58 years timelessly as an artist in the worldwide music fraternity. Most recently in 2022 she received the IRIE FM Living Legend Award. In 2019 she received two awards; The Gold Award from the government of Jamaica in recognition of her contribution to the development of Jamaican music. And along with Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt, she received the Icon Awards from (JaRIA) Jamaica Reggae Industry Association as the I-Trees. Her new album “Timeless,” produced by Donovan Germain and distributed by Tad’s International Records, was released June 2021.
Wherever you may be in your respective community you too can commemorate with the Empress and express happy anniversary. You can go to iTunes, YouTube, at a concert hall or other venue (that she may be performing) in your neighborhood; or even at a party, dancing to the music of the Electric Boogie and doing the electric slide as you glide and celebrate. Come enjoy the longest, hardest and most consistent working artist in the history of the Jamaican music industry – The Empress, Marcia Griffiths, OD, CD, the first Lady of Songs, female vocalist supreme.
Marcia reached high points as a soloist, and with Bob Andy, as the duo of Bob and Marcia. She toured the world as a member of the I-Threes with Bob Marley and the Wailers and subsequently hit the Billboard charts with the “Electric Boogie Song”, creating a world-class dance – the electric slide.
Empress Marcia Griffiths started singing professionally as a vocalist in 1964 with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires band. Marcia remembers she performed a Carla Thomas original, “No Time to Lose” to a phenomenal response from the audience. They demanded an encore, but to no avail, as she had only rehearsed one song with the band. As much as she wanted to, she could not do any more performances that day.
Her recording years started soon after, at Coxsone Dodd – Studio One – where she recorded her first hit “Feel Like Jumping.” While recording at Studio One, Marcia teamed up with Bob Andy on ‘Really Together,” the first of many duets that the two would record. “Luckily for me, Bob Andy was always a strong and wise person”, says Marcia. “He was there for me in the early days and that gave me confidence”. Then the pair moved to the Harry J Label, hitting the British as well as international charts with “Young Gifted and Black” and “The Pied Piper,” recording two albums with the respective titles. Along with the duet’s success, she continued her solo career on the High Note label with Reggae’s sole established female producer – Sonia Pottinger – hitting with several songs, including her own original “Stepping Out Of Babylon,” releasing two albums “Naturally” and “Stepping.”
Marcia has released 18 solo albums, 5 duet albums with Bob Andy (including the LIVE double CD “An Evening with Bob & Marcia), plus a duet album with various artists named Marcia Griffiths and Friends, and 2 group albums with The I-Threes. When asked to express her opinion on female reggae vocalists, Marcia said “Its been a rough, tough job standing up as a woman in this male-dominated business. That’s why my album before “Land of Love” I chose to call it “Indomitable”, which means not easily discouraged or defeated. However, my views on women in reggae are positive; all the new or upcoming female singers in reggae have publicly declared that I have been their inspiration, and I was their role model. I am amazed, so I feel terrific about that; I know that I have positively influenced my people.
Ten years after entering the music business, Marcia joined with Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley to form the I-Threes; they became an integral part of the Bob Marley & the Wailers entourage. “Words are not enough to express my experience with the I-Threes and Bob Marley and the Wailers”, says Marcia. “What a blessing to be so privileged – to have shared this experience“.
Currently, Marcia remains one of the leading female artists on the reggae scene. She gained solo international recognition with her monster hit “Electric Boogie.” This song was first recorded in 1982 and went to the number 1spot on the Jamaican charts. A new dance, the Electric Slide, was created from the “Electric Boogie” song and as a result, sales soared and the “Electric Slide” became popular all over the U.S. – hitting the billboard chart and got featured on the Oprah Winfrey and Phil Donahue shows and on the Black Entertainment TV (BET). Since then Marcia has appeared/performed on CBS, MTV, The Windy Williams Show, Fox News and other TV music networks programs.
Marcia Linneth Griffiths was born to Joseph and Beatrice Griffiths. The family hailed from West Kingston, but as bad as things were, Marcia considered those days glorious because there was always one thing in abundance that made them the wealthiest family in the world – one thing that no one could take from them – Love. Marcia attended Kingston Senior School and was a zealous member of her church choir. She was always taking part in some school concert or play. She loved to hang out and sing with friends, often sneaking out of the house after her parents had gone to bed.
During one such nightly excursion, the slim fifteen-year-old beauty managed to get herself discovered. Philip “Boasie” James lead singer of the famed Blues Busters vocal duo was visiting his girlfriend, who lived next door to Marcia and heard this lovely voice floating through the air. He could not believe his ears and subsequently took Marcia straight away to Byron Lee and insisted that this songbird be included on the upcoming talent show at the Carib Theater in Kingston. Marcia remembers that Byron was upset with “Boasie” for coming to interrupt his well-planned program schedule and insisting that this “nobody” go on his show.
The attention Marcia received after this auspicious debut was overwhelming. Everyone wanted to manage her, including Byron Lee’s manager Ronnie Nasralla. That same night, he took her to Jamaica Broad Casting Corporation (JBC) studios where Marcia made her first television debut. All in one day were the ingredients of an overnight success story, which no one realized was about to happen. The rest is history, for the girl who became the first queen, the matriarch of Reggae Music.
Marcia L. Griffiths CD (Jamaica’s Commander of the Order of Distinction), a great contributor to Reggae Music, is most fitting for the royal, prestigious and respectful title of Reggae Empress. At the dawning of the 21st century, the most influential female artist in Jamaican popular music, Marcia Griffiths kept fanning the flames of Reggae Music. While working in the studio, releasing new records and touring with the Skatalites, Marcia continued her mission to spread the message through music into the new millennium.
First, the Empress has shared the stage with Boyz II Men at MTV’s massive Spring Break concert in Negril, Jamaica. Next, she performed in Orlando, Florida’s Universal Studios, at the opening of the Bob Marley Museum. She shared the bill there with the I-Threes, Ziggy Marley, and Inner Circle. Moving on to New York, Marcia performed in two memorable shows with Beres Hammond and Buju Banton at Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden. She worked in Toronto and Montreal further north with John Holt and Ken Boothe. Back in the U.S., she re-grouped with Bob Andy as the legendary duo, performing at the Bob Marley Day Celebration in Los Angeles, before heading south to perform at the historic Reggae Meets Rocksteady showcase in Miami. Next, Marcia toured with the legendary Wailers Band, then the I-Threes were off for shows in Italy.
Returning to Jamaica, the I-Threes shared the stage for two shows with R&B legends Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle and John Holt, Ken Boothe and Mikey Spice. Before delivering historical performances in the U.K. with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at the Wembley Arena, Birmingham, and Aston Ville Leisure Centre, Middlesex. She says, “Over the past years, I have had
the privilege to visit and perform in Africa. In 2004, along with Judy and Rita as the I-Threes, we performed in South Africa at the All-women conference. “Later that year, I toured Europe with Lady G and an all-female band and returned shortly after toured Europe and the U.S. with Beres Hammond.” 2004 also marked Marcia’s 40th anniversary as a performer. She received a most pleasant surprise when Weston Haughton organized a classy and sophisticated affair in her honor. She feted at the Sandals Hotel with an anniversary dinner; all the female singers there paid tribute to her by performing one of her songs. A.J. Brown and Bob Andy serenaded her singing Happy Anniversary.
Marcia sang “Shining Time” from her album of the same name. Marcia said, “I was very aware of the moment and just give thanks seeing that this was happening to me right now.” In 2005, the I-Threes again performed in Ethiopia along with Lauren Hill and the Marley brothers. Marcia explained, “My experience in Ethiopia was overwhelming. We performed in Haile Selassie’s palace, got a tour of the entire palace, and did a show in the street with hundreds of thousands of people in the audience. I had never seen so many people at one time and place in my life. That was special to me”. In that same year, she toured Europe and the U.S with Beres Hammond and released the album Shining Time.
In 2006, Marcia’s pace stepped up a notch as she was back in Africa in February with the I-Threes, where they performed in Ghana at the Bob Marley celebration. Prior to that show, she performed at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay as part of the Byron Lee & the Dragonaires 50th-year celebration. She then re-joined Bob Andy as a duo and they performed with Jerry Butler at Morgan’s Harbour in Port Royal, Jamaica. After that, she toured Japan with Gregory
Isaacs.
She has performed twice at the Apollo Theatre in New York City. She received the Martin’s International best reggae female vocalist award the first time, returning a month afterward to perform with the I-Threes at the Women’s Celebration Show. When asked how she feels about traveling so widely to perform in such diverse places, Marcia says, “I don’t doubt that God gave me a talent. When I travel and perform for the people, I know I leave something with them; I touch their souls. I am on a mission from God. I don’t just go to entertain people; I go to reach out and touch, teach, educate and uplift. That is my aim. It is the people that give me this inspiration. When I’m in Europe and pregnant women ask me to put my hands on their bellies to bless their unborn child, I feel blessed when people put you on a pedestal like that. When a little 13-year-old boy who knows and owns all my music asks me to sign an autograph, he tells me this is the happiest day of his life. When I took an extensive tour of Europe with the Skatalites, playing to packed venues with teenagers, all young people came to hear that type of music.”
Marcia subsequently released another album entitled “Anthology,” a compilation of some of her most excellent recordings on the VP Records label. She completed another tour of Europe in September of 2006 with Beres Hammond. The old cliché says life begins at 40 is undoubtedly true for Marcia as her career as an artist took on new life after her 40th anniversary. She was well poised for many more years of delighting her worldwide audience. And the beat goes on; her 50th anniversary kicked off in January 2014 at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival with the Marcia and friends showcase – featuring luminaries such as Judy Mowatt, Tony Gregory, Tony Rebel, Daville, Nadine Sutherland, Ken Boothe, among others.
Later in the year, the Marcia & Friends Showcase headlined the annual New York City’s Grooving in the Park summer festival. In December, she performed at the Caribbean Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale for the same Jamaican’s Jazz and Blues promoters. Adding to her long list of accolades and awards, in her Jubilee year she received another recognition from The Government of Jamaica – CD award (Commander of the Order of Distinction) and The Prime Minister Award for Excellence); The United Nations All Women Achievement Award; Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce of Georgia Recognition Awards; Proclamation from the Mayor of the City of Mount Vernon, Life Time Achievement from the Council of Jamaica – Round Table Black History Month, Montreal International Reggae Festival Award; recognition from Western Union to Marcia Griffiths of The I-Three; and the Keys to the City of Fort Lauderdale from the Mayor.
And the beat goes on as she continues the tradition locally and internationally, touring Europe, the USA and Africa. The songbird is sounding as sweet as ever. More recently, she toured Europe with the popular artist Gentleman and they are scheduled for a repeat tour in Germany this year. In addition Marcia is schedule to perform on a series of festivals in Europe and the US.