1494
Christopher Columbus arrives in Jamaica
1523
300 Slaves are sent to the island, they bring with them their music and the knowledge of how to build the instruments they played back home in Africa.
Instruments included the Gumbe’ and the Abeng.
1655
English invade Jamaica, seizing the island from the Spanish, thereby introducing elements of English culture.
1692
Port Royal, the pirate haven of the Caribbean, is thrown into the sea in a Biblical-scaled earthquake. Port Royal was known as the “richest and wickedest city in the world”, and was at the time the centre of culture rivalling that of London.
1739
Peace Treaty signed with the Maroons, under which they receive relative autonomy. The Maroons continued their music traditions using the Abeng (ram’s horn) and the Gumbe’ drum.
1887
On August 17, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, proponent of Black self-determination, is born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica. Later, he became a strong source of inspiration in Reggae Music. Marcus’ strong influence in Reggae came about because he prophesied that African / black people should look to the East for a King, who would be their salvation.
1930
On November 2, Ras Tafari Makonnen, the “hailed” 225th decendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, is crowned Emperor of Ethiopia. He is given the title, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. His ascendancy to the throne had become a solid source of inspiration on and off stage, for Rastafarian entertainers. Reggae music praised the divinity of the Emperor.
1935
Marcus Garvey establishes the Black Star Line Shipping Company, years after starting the U.N.I.A. in 1916. The company intended to transport all black people in the New World who wished to return to their ancestral home of Africa. Many Reggae songs were made about the ‘Black Star Liner”
1940
Sister Mary Ignatius began running the Alpha Boys School. Over the years, the school became very significant in grooming many musicians including, Tommy McCook, Johnny Moore, Rico Rodriquez, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Don Drummond, Dizzy Reece, Joe Harriott and many more.
February 6, 1945
Robert Nesta Marley is born in Nine Miles, St. Ann, Jamaica.
1948
Large scale emigration of Jamaicans to Britain begins with the arrival of 500 on board the Empire Windrush, which was the beginning of the Caribbean influence in music in Britain.
1953
Arthur “Bunny” Robinson and Noel “Skully” Simms, known as Bunny and Skully made the first recording in Jamaica at Stanley Motta’s studio in Kingston. The song is called “I Love You”.
1954
- Ken Khouri starts Federal Records on Kingston’s Bell Road, turning out a couple hundred shellac 78 rmp discs a day of product licenced from the US, as well as a few local recordings. Business blossomed, and Khouri soon progressed to a pressing plant employing more than fifty persons.
- Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd starts his company, Studio One Records
1957
Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, Duke Reid, and Prince Buster start to record acetates for use solely at their sound system dances.
1958
- The anthropologist Edward Seaga, later to become leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and Prime Minister in 1980, founded West Indies Records Ltd (WIRL). He begins issuing records by local performers who drew attention via talent shows run by Vere Johns at the Ward Theatre.
- Chris Blackwell starts Island Records. His first hit, Laurel Aitken’s “Boogie in My Bones”, is a classic example of Jamaican ‘Bluebeat’, a form that is an adaptation of American R&B.
1959
- Dodd, Reid and Buster all begin to record artistes for commercial release. Coxsone Dodd organizes his first commercial session at Federal Studio, with Alton Ellis recording “Muriel”, a prison ballad, with Clue J’s Blues Blasters as backing group
- Ernie Ranglin, Clue J and Coxsone Dodd create ska music.
- Theophilus Beckford’s “Easy Snappin” on Coxsone Dodd’s Worlddisc label is the first Bluebeat hit for Studio One.
1960
Cecil Campbell, whose stage name is Prince Buster, leaves Coxsone Dodd to start his own sound system, The Voice of the People. Although it was the most powerful on the island, it couldn’t dislodge Coxsone and Duke from their peak. Buster moved swiftly into record production that year with a mammoth session at the studios of RJR. That session produced classics like, ‘Oh Carolina”, “They Got To Go” and “Thirty Pieces of Silver” also known as “Judas Charmer”
1962
- August 6, Jamaica is granted independence from British Rule, afterwards many great reggae songs came out of the annual festival song competition which was part of the independence celebrations – eg. songs like “Cherry Oh Baby” & “Boom Shaka Laka”
- Bob Marley releases his first song “One Cup of Coffee” and “Judge Not” for Beverly’s Records.
- Chris Blackwell sets up Island Records in London
- Drums and Drumming, during this period, were outlawed in Jamaica, as it was noted they were connected to Rastas and Herb(Marijuana). Policemen would follow the sound of any drums they heard, and destroy them.
1963
- Clement “Coxsone” Dodd sets up Studio One Records at 13 Brentford Road
- The Wailers achieved their first hit ‘Simmer Down” produced by Coxsone Dodd. At the time the Wailers group was Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Bummy Wailer, Junior Braithwaite, Beverly Kelso, and Cheryl Slmith – which started as a Ska singing group.
1964
Millie Small’s “My Boy Lollipop” is the first international hit for a Jamaican artiste. Millie was an established hit maker in Jamaica, she had sung duets with the late great Wilfred 'Jackie’ Edwards, Derrick Morgan and Roy Panton. Chris Blackwell carried her to England where she recorded her monster hit with an orchestra directed by guitarist Ernest Ranglin. Originally an R&B hit for Barbie Gaye in 1957, Millie’s version sold seven million worldwide and signalled the arrival of Jamaican music in the global market in no uncertain terms.
1966
- April 21st, Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, makes a state visit to Jamaica to be greeted by hundreds of Rastafarians at the airport, including Count Ossie’s Drummers
- Rock Steady becomes the new sound of Jamaica. Several producers and artistes claim to be the first to have made a rock steady record-Roy Shirley cut “Hold Them” in 1966 for producer Joel Gibson(aka Joe Gibbs), Derrick Morgan cut “Tougher Than Tough” for Leslie Kong the same year, and Alton Ellis sang “Girl I’ve Got a Date” for producer Duke Reid. Reid was the producer who capitalized.
1968
- During the height of the Rocksteady period, many foreign artistes become interested in Jamaica and its music. Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel, came to Jamaica to record the song, “Mother and Child Reunion.” According to Entertainment Weekly Magazine, “…that was one of the greatest moments in Pop music history.” That moment was labelled the start of “World Music”
- Johnny Nash’s “Hold Me Tight” was released by Federal Records
- The album “Chances Are” done by Bob Marley, Rita Marley and Peter Tosh produced by Danny Simms, Manager for Johnny Nash, was released – the same time as “Hold Me Tight”. At the time, Bunny Wailer was in jail for Herb.
- “Do The Reggay” was released by Toots & the Maytals
- Bob Marley releases “Pound Get A Blow” and Peter Tosh releases “Burial”, the songs highlight Jamaica giving up the British currency (Pound, Shilling & Pence), and changed to their independent Jamaican dollars.
1969
- U-Roy’s first records are in the shops, the beginning of the DJ. The Wailers link up with Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry to create “Rasta Revolution” and “African Herbsman”, a pair of classic albums.
- Dennis Brown’s first album, “No Man is an Island”, is released for Studio One. He is 10 years old.
- Burning Spear releases “Door Peeper”, his first record on Coxsone Dodd’s Supreme Label.
1970
The DJ craze begins with Ewart Beckford, known in the dancehall as U-Roy. He was followed by deejays like Scotty, Dennis Alcapone, Lizzy and I-Roy. Throughout the 1970s the deejay phenomenon mushroomed, with a new crop appearing every year. These include Big Youth, Dillinger, Prince Jazzbo, Trinity, Clint Eastwood, Tappa Zukie and hundreds more.
1971
Perry Henzell’s movie “The Harder They Come” hits the cinema screens. The film gives reggae culture a visual identity for non-Jamaicans. In the film, Jimmy Cliff plays the country boy who moves to the Kingston ghetto looking for a break in the music business – with inevitable tragic results. The film’s soundtrack LP became the icon for introducing newcomers to Jamaican music.
1972
- Bob Marley & the Wailers sign to Island Records, signalling the beginning of world recognition for his own roots music, and the birth of a new, internationally-oriented form of reggae, which moved far away from reggae.
- Michael Manley’s PNP party voted into power in Jamaica, bringing a period of undeclared civil war to the island. Politicians chose certain songs to hype their campaigning
- Eric Clapton covered Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff”
1973
- The practice of “versions” on the flips of reggae 45s is extended to the first Dub albums.
- Island Records releases the Wailers’ “Catch A Fire” to a global market
- Jamaican Kool Herc had a dance in New York and began to talk over the reggae rhythms, which is said to be the beginning of the reggae influenced Hip-Hop.
1974
- Ken Boothe’s “Everything I Own” becomes a number one chart record in the UK.
- Sugar Minott went to Studio One in the early 70s. By singing over the original tapes from the 60s, rather than using a live band, he caused a revolution in sound that brought a new style to music- Dancehall.
1975
- Burning Spear releases “Marcus Garvey”. After two brilliant albums for Coxsone in the early 70s, Winston Rodney established himself as the voice of Garveyism in Jamaican music. He combines elements from Garvey’s life with observations on the prevailing social conditions to telling and potent effect. Marcus Garvey and Burning Spear were both born and raised in St. Ann’s Bay.
- On Wednesday, August 27, 1975, Bob Marley recorded “Jah Live”, after the reported death of Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia
1976
- “King Tubby meets Rockers Uptown”, a genius Dub record by Augustus Pablo, produced by King Tubby.
- Another state of violence forces Michael Manley to declare a state of emergency.
- Culture releases “Two Sevens Clash”, an apocalyptic crossover hit that was extremely popular with British punks.
- Michael Manley’s PNP party is re-elected
- Friday, December 3, Bob Marley is wounded in an assassination attempt at home on Hope Road.
1977
Bob Marley releases “Funky Reggae Party”, a collaboration with Lee “Scratch” Perry.
1978
- Bob Marley returns to Jamaica to play the One Love Peace Concert, an attempt to bring an end to the island’s murderous political violence. He held the hands of the Prime Minister, Michael Manley and Leader of the Opposition, Edward Seaga, in a public gesture to pacify the political turmoil on the island.
- Joe Gibb’s production, Althea and Donna’s “Uptown Top Ranking” is a number one hit in the UK
- Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, aka Sly and Robbie or Riddim Twins, make incredible inroads in Reggae, stamping their unique musical talent on hits after hits. They achieve their first number 1 hit with Gregory Isaac’s “Soon Forward.”
1979
- Junjo Laws hires Roots Radics as the backing band for a series of sessions at Channel One, a decision that is to alter the sound of Jamaican music. The music for “dancehall” was now being originally created.
- Barrington Levy’s “Bounty Hunter” album, which emerges from these sessions, comes to be considered a classic, shifting reggae in a new direction.
1980
- The general election is the most violent to date. Reggae songs continue to be selected for political campaigns.
- Singer Jacob “Killa” Miller dies when his car crashes on Hope Road. He was also the lead singer of the group Inner Circle.
1981
- Bob Marley dies of Cancer in a Miami Hospital, May 11th, he was 45 years old.
- The movie “Countryman” hits the silver screens, and Reggae is even more highlighted in the cinemas.
1982
English Band Culture Club and Boy George releases the reggae hit “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”
1983
- Yellowman releases sixteen albums between 1982 and 1983, several of them for Junjo Lawes, including the classic, “Mr Yellowman".
- The Bloodfire Posse record the semi-digital “Rub a Dub Soldier”, employing the bass line from Slim Smith’s classic Studio One hit, “Never Let Go”. Bloodfire Posse changes the sound of reggae with their futuristic, electronic digital based reggae sound, under the direction of Danny Browne.
1984
- First UK MC(deejay) to have a Jamaican made No. 1. This was to have a direct effect on the UK, in the form of Tippa Irie and Smiley Culture.
- Reggae is now recognized by the Recording Industry of America Association. The very first Grammy goes to Black Uhuru for the album Anthem. The group consisted of Michael Rose, Duckie Simpson, Puma Jones, Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare.
1985
- Wayne Smith’s “Under Mi Sleng Teng”, a Jammy’s tune that became a phenomenon is credited with kicking off the full digital revolution – an apocryphal story has Smith discovering the rhythm on a Casio.
- “Ring the Alarm” released by Tenor Saw, produced by Sugar Minott
- Second Reggae Grammy goes to Jimmy Cliff for Cliffhanger.
1986
- Wayne Smith’s “Under Mi Sleng Teng”, a Jammy’s tune that became a phenomenon is credited with kicking off the full digital revolution – an apocryphal story has Smith discovering the rhythm on a Casio. • “Ring the Alarm” released by Tenor Saw, produced by Sugar Minott • Second Reggae Grammy goes to Jimmy Cliff for Cliffhanger.
1987
- On Friday, September 11, Peter Tosh and well-known Radio disc-jockey Jeff Dixon, called 'Free-I’ were shot and killed during a home invasion at Toshs’ house.
- Peter Tosh wins the Grammy posthumously for No Nuclear War.
1988
- Half Pint’s anthemic “Greetings” pushes along reggae digitization
- On September 12, Hurricane Gilbert strikes Jamaica. The destruction was great and extreme, incomparable to any other hurricane in Jamaica’s recent history.
- Lloyd Lovindeer’s single “Wild Gilbert” is the largest selling single record in Jamaica to date.
- Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers achieve their first Grammy with Conscious Party. Ziggy, Stephen, Cedella Marley and Sharon Marley-Prendagast.
1989
Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers get the Grammy back-to-back for their album One Bright Day.
1990
- On August 1, IRIE FM, Reggae Radio, burst on the scene in Jamaica. IRIE FM has been established as the the leading Radio Station in Jamaica for many years, and still continues to be the only totally Reggae Radio Station in the world.
- Bunny Wailer earns his first Grammy for the album Time Will Tell – A Tribute to Bob Marley.
1991
- Shabba Ranks takes the US by storm, he wins the Grammy for his album As Raw As Ever.
- Garnett Silk exploded on Jamaica’s music scene with “7 Spanish Angels” on Courtney Coles’s Roofe International label.
1992
- Buju Banton releases “Boom Bye Bye”, creating a storm of media protest, though not in Jamaica. The song describes a typical Jamaican reaction to homosexuals.
- Shabba’s popularity was phenomenal, he earned his second Grammy, back-to-back, for his work on X-tra Naked.
- Garnett Silk, was already working with Songwriter, Tony Rochester, when they brought in Bridgett Anderson as Manager. It was under the guidance of Rochester and Anderson that Silk became a household name in Jamaica.
- Garnett Silk released his debut album “Its Growing” for Producer, Bobby Digital. This opened the door for a slew of hits including, “Mama”, “Zion in a Vision” “Splashing Dashing” and more. Many of his hits are now considered Reggae Classics.
1993
Inner Circle wins the Grammy for their Bad Boys album. Lester Adderly, Carlton Coffie, Lancelot Hall, Bernard “Touter” Harvey, Ian and Roger Lewis.
1994
- Bunny Wailer achieves his second Grammy for Crucial! Roots Classics.
- On December 9, an unfortunate accident at Garnett Silk’s home when a gas cylinder exploded causing a fire. Garnett and his mother perished in the accident. His brothers, Paul and Omar, were badly burned. Jamaica was in SHOCK! The island grieved the young singer. It was devastating for the family and equally for the music industry. At the time of his death, he was working on his 2nd album, this time for “Big Beat Atlantic, working with major Producers, and full filling his life-long dream. He was 28 years old.
1995
- Buju Banton releases ‘Til Shiloh, a ‘conscious’ album that is said to be the finest reggae recording of the decade.
- Shaggy’s Boombastic aided by a Levi’s commercial becomes the first reggae record to simultaneously achieve a UK and US No. 1
- Shaggy’s Boombastic takes the Grammy
1996
Bunny Wailer takes his third Grammy for the album A Tribute to Bob Marley’s 50th Anniversary.
1997
- The film “Dancehall Queen” is released, pushing deejay Beenie Man to even greater stardom.
- A third Grammy goes to Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers for Fallen Is Babylon. Ziggy, Stephen, Cedella Marley and Sharon Marley-Prendagast.
1998
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare(Sly & Robbie) gain the Grammy for Friends.
1999
- Both Augustus Pablo and Dennis Brown pass away. Junjo Lawes is shot dead in Harlesden, Northwest London.
- In December, Time Magazine chose Bob Marley’s “Exodus” as the best album of the 20th century.
- The BBC use Bob Marley’s “One Love” as the ‘Anthem of the Millennium’ in its 24 hour coverage of celebrations around the world.
- The New York Times stated that Bob Marley was ‘the most influential musician of the second half of the 20th century. For the first half it was Louis Armstrong.
- The New York Times built a time capsule to be opened in the year 3000 and included is the one video that would best exemplify the finest musicl moments of the 20th century – Bob Marley live at the the Rainbow in London in 1977.
- VH1 named Bob Marley, the Songwriter of the Century
- Veteran Burning Spear earns the Grammy for Calling Rastafari
2000
Beenie Man takes the Reggae Grammy for his Album “Art and Life” -- Dancehall music is recognized and rewarded.
2001
Damien ‘Junior Gong’ Marley, son of Bob Marley and Former Miss World, Cindy Breakspeare, gave the world a special treat with his debut album, “Half Way Tree’, and unanimously copped the Reggae Grammy.
2002
Veteran producer, writer and singer, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, of the famed Upsetters Label, won the Reggae Grammy for his album, Jamaican E.T.
2003
In May, Sean Paul’s ‘Get Busy’ from the Dutty Rock Album commandingly took over the number 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for 3 weeks-which sent Dancehall music over the top.