Burning Spear Tickets

About Burning Spear

Winston Rodney (born March 1, 1948) a.k.a. Burning Spear is a Jamaican roots rock reggae singer and musician. Like many famous Jamaican reggae artists, Burning Spear is known for his Rastafarian messages. Burning Spear was born in St. Ann's Bay, St. Ann, Jamaica, as was Bob Marley and Marcus Mosiah Garvey; both who had an great influence on Burning Spear's life. Garvey in his philosophy, which Burning Spear greatly took to, and Marley in directly helping Burning Spear get started in the music industry.

Burning Spear is one of the strongest proponents of Marcus Mosiah Garvey's self-determination and self-reliance for all African descendants, thus leading to several album releases in commoration of the African activist. In 2002, Burning Spear and his wife, Sonia Rodney who has produced a number of his albums, founded Burning Spear Records. Burning Spear advocates messages of honesty, peace, and love, which tie in with his religious and political messages of Rasta and black unity.

Rodney began to release music on his own Spear label at the end of 1975, the first issue being another classic, "Travelling" (actually a revision of the earlier Studio One album track "Journey"), followed by "Spear Burning" (1976), "The Youth" (1976), "Throw Down Your Arms" (1977), the 12-inch "Institution" (1977), "Dry And Heavy" (1977), "Free" (1977) and "Nyah Keith" (1979). He also produced "On That Day" by youth singer Burning Junior, and "Love Everyone" by Phillip Fullwood, both in 1976. That same year Jack Ruby released "Man In The Hills', followed by the album of the same name, again on Island, which marked the end of their collaboration. Rodney also dropped Wellington and Hines. In 1977, Dry & Heavy was released, recorded at Harry J's Studio, which satisfyingly reworked many of his Studio One classics, including "Swell Headed", "Creation Rebel", "This Race" and "Free Again". In October that year he made an electrifying appearance at London's Rainbow Theatre, backed by veteran trumpeter Bobby Ellis and the UK reggae band Aswad. Island released an album of the performance that inexplicably failed to capture the excitement generated.

In 1978, Rodney parted with Island and issued Marcus Children, arguably his best album since Marcus Garvey, released in the UK on Island Records' subsidiary One Stop as Social Living, again using members of Aswad alongside the usual Kingston session men. In 1980, he signed to EMI Records who issued his next album, the stunning Hail H.I.M., produced by Burning Spear and Aston "Familyman" Barrett at Bob Marley's Tuff Gong studio, on his own Burning Spear subsidiary. Two excellent dubs of Social Living and Hail H.I.M. also appeared as Living Dub Volumes 1 and 2, mixed by engineer Sylvan Morris.

Throughout the following years to the present day, Burning Spear has continued to release albums regularly, as well as touring the USA and elsewhere. Resistance, nominated for a Grammy in 1984, was a particularly strong set, highlighting Spear's impressive, soulful patois against a muscular rhythmic backdrop. People Of The World similarly saw his backing group, the Burning Band, which now encompassed an all-female horn section, shine. His 1988 set, Mistress Music, added rock musicians, including former members of Jefferson Airplane, though artistically it was his least successful album. Mek We Dweet, recorded at Tuff Gong studios, was a return to his unique, intense style. His lyrical concerns - black culture and history, Garveyism and Rasta beliefs, and universal love - have been consistently and powerfully expressed during his recording career.