Burning Spear’s impact on reggae music is profound. A true legend, Spear’s legacy through
his music is one of self-reliance and self-determination for the African diaspora. With a career
spanning over six decades, his message remains on point and his vocal delivery is as powerful
as it is identifiable.
Winston Rodney began his music career in the late 1960s, attributing his start to a fateful
encounter with Bob Marley. Both were living in the St. Ann’s parish of Jamaica. As Spear
recalls, “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.’” It
was there that Spear recorded his first two classic albums, “Burning Spear” and “Rocking
Time.”
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Burning Spear rocked the reggae world, releasing
acclaimed albums such as “Social Living,” “Hail H.I.M.” and “Resistance.” His music evolved to
incorporate elements of jazz, funk, and rock, while maintaining its solid roots reggae
foundation.
