Burning Spear 1

Burning Spear, born Winston Rodney in St Ann’s Bay, Jamaica on March 1, 1948. He is a musician and Reggae singer.

Burning Spear: The Group

Rodney started his carreer in 1969 as the founder of a duo which was originally called Rodney’s. The group which included bass singer Rupert Wellington later changed its name to Burning Spear. That same year they released their first single called “Door Peep” produced by Coxsone Dodd of Studio One. While at Studio One tenor  Jacob Hinds joined the group and together the trio recorded several singles and two studio albums.

In 1975 they left Studio One and began working with producer Jack Ruby. Their first recording with Ruby called “Marcus Garvey”  became a major hit in Jamaica. They also relased an album called “Marcus Garvey during that same year. The album featured the backing band, Black Disciples, which included musicians such as  Earl “Chinna” Smith, Valentine Chin, Robbie Shakespeare and Leroy Wallace.

In 1976 Winston Rodney (Burning Spear) set up his own record label called Burning Music which released the 4th studio album ” Man In The Hill”. Near the end of 1976 Rodney separated from group members Wellington and Hinds but kept the name Burning Spear.

Burning Spear: The Solo Artiste

In 1977 he released his first  solo album called “Dry And Heavy”.

In 1978 he released  the album “Social Living” which was backed by British Reggae band Aswad. The album also featured Sly Dunbar and Rico Rodriguez.

In 1979 a dub verision of the “Social Living”  was mixed by Sylvan Morris and released as “Living Dub”. He also appeared in a featured film called “Rockers” where he performed the single “Jah No Dead”.

In 1980 he set up the Burning Music production company and signed to EMI record label based in the United Kingdom for which he released the album  “Hail H.I.M.”

Awards 

In 1985 he received his first Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album for the album ‘Resistance”.  Five years later at the dawn of the century (2000) he won his first Grammy Awards for his 1999 album “Calling Rastafari”. He won his second Grammy in 2009 for the album “Jah Is Real” (2008) which was produced by him (Burning Spear) and released on his Burning Music record label.

In October 2007 he received the honour of Order of Distinction by the government of Jamaica for his contribution to Jamaican music.

Grammy Nomination
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
2005 Our Music
2008 The Burning Spear Experience
2008 Jah Is Real (winner)