ROWN
(1957 - 1999)DENNIS BROWN
(1957 - 1999)
Dennis Emmanuel Brown was born in Kingston in 1957. Growing up near Orange Street, where much of the recording studios of the day were located, the young Brown found himself immersed in the music scene and blessed with a superb voice he began performing with Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires at age nine. At age eleven, he scored his first hit single with a cover of The Impressions’ No Man Is An Island and at age thirteen he had released his first album, No Man Is An Island in 1970 with the legendary Coxsone Dodd at Studio One. He recorded another album with Dodd, If I Follow My Heart, before moving on to other studios.
During his career Brown worked with virtually every major record producer in the country including Derrick Harriot and Joe Gibbs. It was with Niney “the Observer” Holness that he received international recognition with the release of several classic songs, Westbound Train, Cassandra, Africa to name a few. It was also with Holness that he released his masterpiece, what would become his signature tune, Here I Come. Eventually the two parted ways and from 1977 to 1983, Brown worked almost exclusively with legendary producer Joe Gibbs, releasing such songs as Visions, Words of Wisdom, Joseph’s Coat of Many Colours and Money in My Pocket. In 1983, Brown signed with the American label A & M Records, releasing two albums: Love Has Found Its Way and The Prophet Rides Again.
Brown’s popularity continued to rise during the 1980s with his talent being acknowledged by none other than Bob Marley who declared him a personal favourite and the public dubbed him the ‘Crown Prince of Reggae’. He continued to record throughout the decade of the 90s his popularity untouched by the rise of Dancehall until July 1, 1999 when he died of complications due to a collapsed lung.