Machel Montano turns 50 at the Kennedy Center with a black-tie birthday affair.
Machel Montano turns 50 at the Kennedy Center with a black-tie birthday affair! Come celebrate this milestone with the “King of Soca” in an unforgettable night of music!
Through his ever-evolving musical offering, multi-award-winning artist Machel Montano works on his mission of propelling soca into the domain of mainstream music.
From a career beginning at age seven, Montano has achieved countless accomplishments—highlights include performing at Madison Square Garden at age nine, performing on Star Search at age 11, becoming the first soca artist to attain a headlining slot at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, touring with Pitbull, making history as a two-time recipient of the Bob Marley Award for Entertainer of the Year at Martins International Reggae and World Music Awards, winning a Soul Train Award in 2014, winning 10 Road Marches and seven Power Soca Monarch titles in Trinidad and Tobago, and performing at Coachella with Major Lazer.
In 2018, Montano received an honorary doctorate in the arts from the University of Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, he was inducted into the Young, Gifted & Black Caribbean Music Entertainment ICON Hall of Fame, received an award from Harvard University’s Caribbean Club for Entertainer of the Year in 2021, and received the lifetime achievement award from the Caribbean Music Awards in 2023. On August 25, he will be given the Entertainment Keys to the city of New York.
Congratulations and Happy 50th Birthday.
November 25, 2024
Quincy Jones a true music Icon, dead at 91. RIP Q
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received many accolades including 28 Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award as well as nominations for seven Academy Awards and four Gloden Globe Awards.
In 1978, he produced the soundtrack for The Wiz the musical adaptation of the Wiz of OZ., which starred Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
While working on The Wiz, Michael Jackson asked Jones to recommend some producers for his upcoming solo album. Jones offered some names but eventually offered to produce the record himself. Jackson accepted and the resulting record, Off the Wall, sold about 20 million copies. This made Jones the most powerful record producer in the industry at that time. Jones and
Jackson's next collaboration, Thriller, sold 70 million copies and became the highest-selling album of all time. The rise of MTV and the advent of music videos as promotional tools also contributed to Thriller's sales.
Jones worked on Jackson's album Bad, which sold 45 million copies, and was the last time they worked with each other. Audio interviews with Jones are included in the 2001 special editions of Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad.
Peetah Morgan, lead singer of the Reggae band Morgan Heritage dead at 46. RIP
Peter Anthony "Peetah" Morgan, lead singer of the Grammy-winning family reggae band Morgan Heritage, died Sunday of undisclosed causes. He was 46.
A cause of death was not disclosed.
Peetah Morgan founded the Morgan Heritage band with seven siblings – all children of the Jamaica-born singer Denroy Morgan – in 1994, though the group would eventually become a five-member band. Known for its melding of classic reggae with rock, soul, calypso, funk and other genres, Morgan Heritage became one of the genre's leading vocal groups.
Morgan Heritage won a Best Reggae Album Grammy in 2016 for its 2015 album Strictly Roots. Avrakedabra, its 2017 album, was Grammy-nominated in 2018.
February 25, 2024
