Black Uhuru

For over 50 years Black Uhuru has remained one of the most popular recognized prolific reggae band from Jamaica. The living legends have earned several achievements in the music industry including winning the first ever Grammy Award for reggae music. They’re long success along with having the highest reggae record sales after Bob Marley & the most songs sampled by other artist over the years has allowed them to become Ambassadors of reggae.

The roots of Black Uhuru formed in Kingston’s “Waterhouse” District in the late 60’s. It is the home of founder & leader Derrick “Duckie” Simpson along with all the rest of the singers from the group. The original Uhuru’s Swahili for “freedom” were Duckie, Don Carlos & Garth Dennis. The first song was a Curtis Mayfield cover of “Folk Song”. They made only a couple more songs before Don left to pursue a solo career & Garth joined Wailing Souls. The two were replaced by Michael Rose & Errol Nelson both from Waterhouse. They recorded the debut album “Love Crises” in 1977 for Prince Jammy later re-released as “Black Sounds of Freedom”. Errol later left the group to join the Jays & was replaced by female singer Puma Jones.

In 2018 the longly awaited new album “As The World Turns” was finally releaesd. The first album in over 15 years was nominated for “Best Reggae Album” for the 61st Grammy Awards. The album was produced by Duckie Simpson & Horace Campbell & mixed by Jermiaine Forde. The album has 15 tracks with Duckie on lead & features collaborations with Agent Sasco & Prezident Brown. Two music videos for “Chalice” & “War Crime” were released. In 2018 Black Uhuru played at the One Love Festival in New Zealand in January, headlined the Austin Reggae Festival in April, played at Rotterdam in Amsterdam & No Logo Festival in France in the summer & toured the East Coast in September. In 2019 Black Uhuru toured the West Coast, Hawaii & East Coast where they appeared on NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series. A new single was just released “I See You” from the new “Tropical House Cruises to Jamaica Reloaded” album by Contractor Music.