At the 27th annual Grammy Awards held in 1985, Reggae music made its historic appearance among the world's most respected genres which have long been borrowed from its creativity.Since then, Jamaicans and non-Jamaicans have been proud to win Grammy Awards in the category of Best Reggae Album - formerly known as the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Record - and to cement their place with the highest honor in the music industry.
Ahead of the 64 Grammy Awards, which will take place on Sunday night, here are some of the landmark events and look back on the Reggae Best Album category for many years.Black Uhuru - Grammy-First Reggae Artists:
Reggae group Black Uhuru were the first winners of the Best Reggae Album at the Grammy Awards in 1985 for their Anthem album. The band won other similarly interesting works, namely Jimmy Cliff's Reggae Nights, Steel Pulse's Steppin 'Out, Peter Tosh's Captured Live, and King Yellowman of Yellowman.
Ziggy Marley - Won Most Award for Best Reggae Album:The son of Bob Marley and former singer of Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers, Ziggy Marley has won seven Grammy Awards, some coming in a row every year. Her first 3 wins were awarded while still a member of her family band for their albums Conscious Party in 1989, One Bright Day in 1990, and Fallen Is Babylon in 1998. In 2007, Ziggy won again for her solo album his Love Is My Religion, then seven years later in 2014 for his album In Concert, then again in 2015 with Fly Rasta, defeating Shaggy and Sizzla in the unit, and finally once more in 2017 with his release titled Ziggy Marley.
Steel Pulse - The first group from outside Jamaica to win the Best Reggae Album Award: In 1987, the British Roots-Reggae Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican people to win the prestigious award for their album Babylon the Bandit. It won against the Black Freedom Brutal, Jimmy Cliff's Club Paradise, Jamaican-based dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's In Concert with the Dub Band, and The Itals' Rasta Philosophy for Best Reggae Album. Steel Pulse was first formed at Handsworth Birmingham at Handsworth Wood Boys' School, with David Hinds as lead singer, Basil Gabbidon and his brother Colin, Ronald McQueen, and Mykaell Riley.
Shabba Ranks - The First Dancehall Artist To Win The Best Reggae Album:Although King Yellow Man was the first Dancehall artist to be nominated for Best Reggae Album in 1985, Shabba Ranks stands as the first Dancehall singer to win the award for his album As Raw As Ever in 1992. Shabba led Ziggy Marley, Rita Marley, Bunny Wailer, Black Freedom, and Steel Pulse in the same year.
Shabba won again with X-Tra Naked in 1993, against Jimmy Cliff, Steel Pulse, The Wailing Souls, and Third World.
Judy Mowatt - First Woman nominated for Best Reggae Album:
Just one year after the Grammys included Reggae music among their categories, Judy Mowatt would be the first woman to be shortlisted in 1986 in the Best Reggae Album category for her collection of Working Wonders. Unfortunately for Judy, her teammate Jimmy Cliff took home the award that year, after previously losing to Black Freedom.
Sting & Shaggy - The First Singers To Collaborate To Win The Best Reggae Album:Some fans of the Rock artist Sting They questioned why he ventured into Reggae music and made an entire Reggae album with Jamaican star Shaggy. Those fans would not have known that the Collaborative Project of 44/876 would win the Best Reggae Album Award in 2019. Sting also became the second non-Jamaican nominee to win the Award.
Koffee - The First Female Artist and Younger to Win the Best Reggae Album:When 20-year-old Koffee, a native of Spanish Town won the Best Reggae Album in 2020 for the Rapture EP, music lovers were just as excited as they were probably stunned. If this is the case, the young singjay had not been to the scene for a year and many argued that his EP was not a full-length version. Some people even suggested that the veterans within the unit that year had real Reggae music. Other nominees in the year of Coffee making history include Julian Marley, Steel Pulse, Third World and Sly & Robbie & the Roots Radics.
Etana, Spice - At First Two Women Appointed At The Same Time: In November last year, for the first time in the 36-year history of the Best Reggae Album category, two women, one Reggae singer Etana and the other Dancehall Spice Queen, were nominated at the same time.
Spice was nominated for 10, while the second nominee Etana, won the nomination for her album Together. Other nominees were Sean Paul for his Live N Livin album, Jesse Royal for Royal, Gramps Morgan for Positive Vibration, and the US band SOJA Beauty in the Silence.
The winner will be announced at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, to be held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this Sunday, April 3, 2022.
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