The Paragons Similar Artists

Alton Ellis - 97% match to The Paragons

1944, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Ellis, Jamaica’s most soulful singer, celebrated 30 years in the business several years ago and yet he is still making important records. In many ways he epitomizes the story of reggae vocalists: a start in the business at a very early age, massive popularity for a limited period, and a gradual decline in prominence while continuing Read more

Desmond Dekker - 64% match to The Paragons

Desmond Adolphus Dacres, 16 July 1941, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 25 May 2006, London, England. Dacres spent much of his orphaned childhood near Seaforth in St. Thomas before returning to Kingston, where he worked as a welder. His workmates encouraged him to seek a recording audition and, after receiving rejections from leading producers Clement Dodd and Duke Reid, Read more

John Holt - 63% match to The Paragons

11 July 1947, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. At the age of 12 Holt’s voice was a regular feature of the talent contests run by Vere Johns at various Jamaican theatres, and by 1963 Holt had cut his first single, ‘I Cried A Tear’/‘Forever I’ll Stay’, for Leslie Kong’s Beverley’s label. Holt also recorded duets with Alton Ellis for Randy Read more

Ken Boothe - 57% match to The Paragons

22 March 1946, Denham Town, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Boothe began his recording career with Stranger Cole in the duo Stranger And Ken, releasing titles including ‘World’s Fair’, ‘Hush’, ‘Artibella’ and ‘All Your Friends’ from 1963-65. When the rocksteady rhythm began to evolve during 1966, Boothe recorded ‘Feel Good
Read more

The Heptones - 54% match to The Paragons

Leroy Sibbles (1949, Jamaica, West Indies), Barry Llewellyn (b. 25 December 1947, Jamaica, West Indies) and Earl Morgan (b. 25 November 1945, Jamaica, West Indies) were without doubt the foremost rocksteady and reggae vocal trio, and their work together, especially for Studio One, set the standards by which all other Jamaican harmony groups are measured. They started with Ke Read more

Don Drummond - 50% match to The Paragons

1943, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 6 May 1969, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. One of the principal innovators in Jamaican music, Drummond tragically died before seeing the growth and success of the genre he helped to create. Don Drummond was educated at the famous Alpha Catholic Boys Home and School, in the heart of the Kingston ghetto, where he, like so many others, Read more

Derrick Morgan - 49% match to The Paragons

27 March 1940, Stewarton, Jamaica, West Indies. Morgan’s recording career stretches back to the birth of the Jamaican record industry at the end of the 50s. The young singer, who had first performed in public in 1957, recorded ‘Lover Boy’ and ‘Oh My’ for Duke Reid’s Treasure Isle imprint. An imposing figure, invariably topped with an almost brim Read more

The Maytals - 49% match to The Paragons

The Uniques - 49% match to The Paragons

Toots & The Maytals - 49% match to The Paragons

Arguably, the Maytals were only ever kept from becoming ‘international’ artists by the runaway success of Bob Marley And The Wailers in the 70s. Rumour has it that Island Records’ Chris Blackwell originally only signed the Wailers because he was unable to obtain the Maytals’ signatures at the time. Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert (1945, May Pen, Jamai Read more

Delroy Wilson - 47% match to The Paragons

5 October 1948, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 6 March 1995, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Like Dennis Brown and Freddie McGregor, Delroy Wilson was barely out of short trousers when he recorded his debut single for Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One label. His first hit, ‘Joe Liges’ (1963), was written by Lee Perry, who at the time was working as a talent-spotte Read more

Tommy McCook - 43% match to The Paragons

Prince Buster - 40% match to The Paragons

Dennis Brown - 39% match to The Paragons

Dennis Emanuel Brown, 1 February 1957, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, d. 1 July 1999, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. Regularly billed as ‘the Crown Prince of Reggae’, it was only Brown’s self-effacing nature that denied him advancement to the office of king. Loved in reggae music like no other singer, Brown was regularly courted by the major record labels, a Read more

Horace Andy - 38% match to The Paragons

Horace Hinds, 19 February 1951, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. This artist was affectionately renamed Andy as a tribute to Bob Andy, in respect of their mutual songwriting abilities, by Coxsone Dodd. Horace, also known as Sleepy, has always been a favoured vocalist among reggae fans and his eerie, haunting style has been imitated endlessly by scores of lesser talents over t Read more