Burning Spear is an undisputed musical legend. Not a year goes by that he doesn't release a blockbuster album or complete a successful tour. His concerts are events, and each subsequent record that he releases is greeted with eager anticipation by reggae fans everywhere. A visionary musical prophet, Burning Spear's music has always had a profound cultural and spiritual focus. In fact, his name comes from the African freedom fighter and Kenya's first head of state, Jomo Kenyatta, who was referred to as Burning Spear. He is especially dedicated to preserving and exposing the teachings of Marcus Garvey, who preached self-determination and self-reliance for all African descendants. Among reggae artists, none sing the Garvey gospel as profoundly or as often as Spear.
Spear's musical stylings have always attracted fans of all genres of music. In fact, Burning Spear was the only reggae artist to be included on the 1991 album Deadicated, performing his version of the Grateful Dead's "Estimated Prophet" along side other renditions of Dead tunes by such artists as Elvis Costello, Jane's Addiction, and more. Spear paid tribute to Jerry Garcia's passing on his Grammy nominated 1997 album, Appointment With His Majesty. All in all, he has received a grand total of eight Grammy nominations.
Burning Spear's future promises to be even more productive, but to understand where he's going, one must examine his past. Spear's heralded career began in 1969 when he recorded "Door Peep" for the now legendary Studio One label.
"The way the whole thing came about is that I found myself moving along up in the hills of St. Ann's, and I ran into Bob Marley at the same time," recalls Spear (Like Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey, Spear was born in St. Ann's, Jamaica). And Bob was going to his farm. The man was moving with a donkey and some buckets and a fork, and cutlass and plants. We just reason man-to-man and I-man say wherein I would like to get involved in the music business. And Bob say, 'All right, just check Studio One.' " Spear went on to record a collection of songs that became the first two classic Burning Spear albums, Burning Spear and Rocking Time. In "As It Is," Spear's first single from Calling Rastafari, he reflects on meeting Bob Marley and his early struggles in the music business.
In the '70s, after his time with Studio One, Spear released Marcus Gravy, Man in the Hills, and Garvey's Ghost on Island Records. Together, these recordings reshaped the face of reggae music and firmly established Burning Spear as an international artist, solidifying the themes of his now lifelong artistic vision. On the strong foundation of his Island material, Spear then released Hail H.I.M. on EMI (reissued in 1994 by Heartbeat), which was subsequently followed by his first Heartbeat release, 1983's Farover, further refining his sound and strengthening his purpose. In 1985 Spear released Resistance, and received his first of eight Grammy nominations. Spear has since recorded many other brilliant albums for Heartbeat, including The Fittest of the Fittest, The World Should Know, Living Dub Vols 1, 2, 3, and 4, the aforementioned Hail H.I.M., Love & Peace: Burning Spear Live, Rasta Business, and Appointment With His Majesty.
Calling Rastafari continued Spear's record of quality and consistency, and signified an amazing thirty years in the music business. Another blockbuster album, it spent 8 weeks on the Billboard Reggae chart, and won the 2000 Grammy for Best Reggae Album of the Year. Keep the Spear Burning! ~~~~~www.burningspear.net (the official Burning Spear Web Site)
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