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 Garvey,
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.
