Burning Spear

Winston Rodney, aka Burning Spear, is the quintessential Jamaican roots reggae singer. After losing artists like Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, John Holt, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, Toots Hibbert and many more, Burning Spear is one of the very few remaining original Icons of Reggae music. His unique, smoky, chanting style and Rastafari and Garveyite lyrics set the template for how cultural reggae would be interpreted from the 1970s onwards. He first came to attention at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio 1, before becoming a worldwide sensation with his Marcus Garvey and Man In The Hills albums, produced by Jack Ruby and distributed by Island Records.

Today Burning Spear is a completely independent artist who has won two Grammys. After years of retirement from live performances he returns to the Forum Birmingham (formally The Hummingbird) for the most important event in recent reggae history alongside Johnny Clarke and Horace Andy. Wassifa Showcase (Celebrating 50 years in the music business) will be the host and playing during the breaks.