23 hours ago
2
Owen Gray, the pioneering singer who is often hailed as “Jamaica’s first home-grown star”, passed away on Sunday morning at his home in England. Gray’s lifelong friend, Anthony ‘Chips’ Richards, confirmed to The Gleaner that the 86-year-old foundation singer, who was diagnosed with lung cancer four years ago, “appeared to have died in his sleep”.
“Owen and I were friends since 1965 ... we were very, very, very close. On two occasions we lived in the same house in England,” Richards said. “He was a wonderful, fun, human being and a fantastic artiste. I am really going to miss Owen a lot.”
Winston Francis, another of Jamaica’s musical pioneers who also resides in England, remembered Gray as “a fantastic guy”.
“He was 86 years old and looking at him you could not believe it. Owen has done a lot for the music and his children can be very proud of his accomplishments,” Francis told The Gleaner.
Richards, who recorded several albums with Gray, shared that it was a call from his music friends Derrick Morgan and Blackbeard on Sunday morning asking about Owen Gray that spurred him into action.
“I called Owen’s daughter, Antoinette, who is my god-daughter, and she confirmed that he had passed. Owen was getting treatment for lung cancer ... and also, he had a stroke sometime before receiving the OD from the Government in 2023. He stayed home and gradually went down,” Richards told The Gleaner.
A highly respected figure in the reggae music scene in the UK for decades, Richards received the Order of Distinction (OD) in 2022 for his contributions to the promotion of Jamaican music internationally. It was he who nominated Gray for the OD and he recalled the moment when he got the call from the office of the prime minister, “because they couldn’t get in touch with Owen”.
“When he got the news that he was finally getting the OD Owen was overjoyed ... his health improved. He told me ‘This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to me.’ A ceremony was held at the High Commission in London and Owen showed up,” Richards said.
‘NATTY OD’
In a 2023 interview with The Gleaner, Gray expressed his joy about receiving the OD. “ I have been waiting on this gift for a very long time. It feels like when an airplane has landed. It is good that the people in Jamaica … the prime minister, the minister of culture … are thinking about me. If I had the time and the health, I would come to Jamaica and receive it myself.”
During the interview, Gray joked that his OD has already been named “the Natty OD”, a reference to his 1970 Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee-produced single, Natty Bongo, which “was a giant, international hit for [him] and the producer”.
The multi-talented Owen Gray, an Alpha Boys School alumnus, was among a small elite group of musical ambassadors from Jamaica to capture international attention when he migrated to England in 1962.
A dynamic performer, whose work spans the R&B, ska, rocksteady, and reggae, he is credited as the first singer to praise a sound system on record. His On the Beach single celebrated Clement Dodd’s Sir Coxsone Downbeat system in 1959, and was one of the first releases on Dodd’s Studio One label. He was one of the first artistes to be produced by Chris Blackwell, in 1960, and his Patricia single was the first record ever released by Island Records.
Please Let Me Go, Gray’s first single, climbed to reached the top of the charts in Jamaica, and also sold well in the United Kingdom and tours of Europe followed.
Gray was particularly proud of the role he played in the career of Millie Small. After Studio One producer, Sir Coxsone Dodd, took Small under his wings, he asked Gray, who already had a number of hits to his name, to tutor her. Her first song, Sugar Plum, was a duet with Gray.
“ I am the first one that started this. I used to win all the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour contests, and that was before Millie came on the scene. I wrote songs for Wilfred ‘Jackie’ Edwards and also for Laurel Aitken, who was the first Jamaican singers to go to England. Unfortunately, Millie isn’t around any more. I know all of them. When I tell people that I am the one who introduced Bob Marley to Chris Blackwell they don’t believe me. I know Sonny ‘Orbitone’ Roberts too,” Gray said during the interview two years ago.
Gray has also worked with producers such as Clement Dodd, Prince Buster, Sydney Crooks, Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, Leslie Kong, and Clancy Eccles.
In February 2021, in celebration of Reggae Month, Owen Gray was one of the recipients of the prestigious Jamaica Reggae Industry Association Honour Award.
English (US) ·