Burning Spear - Reggae Music Legend

Born Winston Rodney in St. Ann, Jamaica, he was an early fan of Bob Marley. As the legend goes, Rodney bumped into Marley while walking through a field, and the two began talking about music. Marley encouraged him to visit Jamaica's Studio One, where Rodney and a fellow musician recorded "Door Peep." By the time of its release, Rodney had branded the duo Burning Spear, taking the nickname of Jomo Kenyatta, who was jailed by a colonial British government in Africa but rose to become the first president of Kenya.

You can read the entire bio at his offcial website by visiting him @http://burningspear.net

This was the decade in which the Spear first emerged on the international world stage. This was a very productive decade in which 8 studio and 1 live album had been released. Burning Spear also had a role in the movie "Rockers" in which he, and many other well known reggae artists, were involved. I only recently saw this movie for the first time in 2011 and it is currently available streaming online via Netflix. I strongly recommend watching it - it's a "must see" film for any roots reggae fan. Many of my favorite Burning Spear songs are from this time period.

This decade was a hard one for reggae music as it lost two great artists: Bob Marley (1981) and Peter Tosh (1987). Burning Spear didn't lose a step in these trying times, and the Spear kept right on burning brightly. He released 7 studio albums and 1 live album during this time period. This is the time in history when the legendary Live in Paris, Zenith '88 album and video were produced and released.

The Live in Paris concert is the quintessential reggae concert of the decade, and in my opinion, one of the best ever captured on film. It is the standard by which all reggae concerts are judged. Yeah, it's that good. If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend getting a copy.

The 90's saw the release of 8 more studio albums and 2 live albums. Burning Spear received a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album for Calling Rastafari . This recognition was long overdue and well deserved!

Mr. Rodney also started the Burning Music Production company and began to handle his own bookings, a first step toward true independence. He continued to spread his message with frequent touring to support his studio albums and to uplift his fans around the world.

The release of the Freeman album marked a new stage in Winston Rodney's career. He was now a free and independent artist. For years he had struggled to gain legal and creative control of his music, and Freeman was the culmination of many years of hard work and struggle to achieve that end. This effort was subsequently followed up by the appropriately titled Our Music and the 2010 Grammy Award winning Jah is Real.

Not only did Spear now have control of his work, but he was free to reap what he had sown; no more having to deal with unethical record companies and distributors all of whom wanted a piece of the pie, while having contributed virtually nothing in it's creation or promotion.

For years, many reggae artists were treated poorly by the music industry. Distributors often did not pay proper royalties on album sales, and in some cases they paid nothing at all. When confronted with these issues, often times the distributors / labels would under-report album sales or they would employ intimidation tactics and long, drawn out legal battles that would take years to resolve. Why not just pay the man what is his? Spear himself in a video he posted on his YouTube page estimated that he was owed over $500k for past album sales and royalties that are currently owed to him, but have never been paid.

When distribution agreements ended, as was the case with Burning Spear, some distributors continued to sell his music even though they did not have the legal right to do so. Many reggae artists found themselves having to constantly tour in order to make any money at all, and for many years, the mighty Spear was no exception. His blog mentioned on a few occasions how he would go on tour for weeks and months at a time and would ultimately come home having made almost nothing for himself - and it was like this for years. Sadly, this type of occurrence seemed to be the norm for many of reggae's greatest artists, many of whom continue to derive most of their income from touring in order to make ends meet.

When Burning Spear made the decision to become a free and independent artist, some in the record industry were not pleased with that decision. Now that Spear had the publishing rights to most of his music and had made the decision to strike out on his own, the record industry suddenly found that their gravy train was coming to an end. Instead of wishing him well on his new venture, they did the complete opposite - they decided to try and make things very difficult for the Spear and worked to undermine him at every turn.

For example, on March 5, 2007, his former distributor destroyed over 14,000 Burning Spear CD's they had in their warehouse and had them dumped on his lawn. He was even billed $2,000 for the shipping of the items! Talk about adding insult to injury. Then they called major music buyers and instructed them not to buy Burning Spear music from anyone except them. They wanted to force the Spear to coming running back to them to get his music out to the people. Add in to the mix frequent harassing phone calls and legal threats, and you can see how some in the industry feel about independent artists. It's hard to steal from someone when you can't control them.

The Spear went public with his struggles via his blog and website. He setup a store online to sell his music and merchandise, and his fans responded positively and overwhelmingly. While he still has ongoing legal matters to settle, he is well on his way to freedom - but the struggle is far from over, and it will probably take years to resolve. You can support the Spear at his website and on his Facebook page.

Working along side Burning Spear is his wife of many years, Sonia Rodney. She has produced many of his albums in addition to handling much of the day-to-day operations of their various companies.

Mrs. Rodney manages and represents the Spear and she is one of the driving forces in his life. She even films and edits many of the movies they post on Facebook. She is multi-talented and second to nobody in the music business. Her mission is to see that Burning Spear and his message are available to his fans worldwide. Much respect goes out to Mrs. Rodney. She is an inspiration to me and my family.

Burning Spear has been singing for over 40 years, and he isn't going away any time soon! Despite all his recent trials and tribulations he is stronger than ever. He has been working on his upcoming album titled No Destroyer. He is a humble man with integrity and he will continue to fight for justice and FREEDOM. The availability of his inspired message should not be subject to the whims of big-shot record executives looking for a free ride, and so he will continue his fight for independence. He is not alone. His fans will be there to support him!

The Marcus Garvey Youth Club is a very special place for Burning Spear. Located in the parish of St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, where he was born, Winston got his start here.

In August 2006 he performed a benefit concert to support the infirmary located at the school. He was disturbed by the lack of basic resources at the club and organized the 700 Strong Concert to offer support to his beloved organization. Here is a quote from the Spear grabbed from a press release at the time:

"People of the world, I man spent the holiday home in Jamaica. The Spirit of Marcus Garvey lead me right to Marcus Garvey Youth Club - right on the beach. All I could hear in my head was it's time for me to get out of Babylon system. Anyone can be Babylon. So come lets us chant down Babylon and be strong.

Looking forward to see 700 people of the world doing their country walk at Marcus Garvey Youth Club in August 2006. Don't forget to buy a copy of Our Music for yourself and a friend. We have to show the world that roots music can sell. Let's show the world that we can be move together as one musically.

This is the place where I man got started. I man is requesting the honor of 700 People of the World to witness I man's first ever performance on Garvey Lawn under the Order of Jah Rastafari."

Burning Spear continues to support the Marcus Garvey Youth Club to this day.

You can find tons of quality Burning Spear music, clothing and accessories at the store on his website. They have CD's, DVD's and even some vinyl offerings on their site. The Spear even runs special promotions from time to time in which he includes autographed items. You can't beat that! Support the Spear and his music by getting your official merchandise from them instead of from unauthorized sellers and bootleggers. Click on the store logo to the right to start shopping today!

Like many successful artists, Burning Spear is constantly having to deal with bootleggers and even some major distribution sites selling unauthorized copies of his music. Much of the merchandise offered as legitimate or "rare" is in fact illegally made and often sub standard copies. Other times they are professionally made copies or left over inventory that is being sold without authorization. You can eliminate any doubt about an items authenticity by buying directly via Burning Spear himself. Most of his music is available @ burningspear.net

I was checking out the Burning Spear facebook page one day when I ran across a video that the Spear had posted in which he was talking about everything he and Mrs. Rodney had been going through lately. Now, keep in mind, I have been following Burning Spear for a while now on facebook and I have been following their struggle for independence for some time now. I always tried to comment periodically and offer my support so they knew that the fans cared and were struggling right along with them.

This video was different. It reached out to me and touched me in a deeply personal way. I really felt as though their struggle was MY struggle. My heart went out to them and I was so upset that they were going through so much. I had my wife watch the video and she was affected as I was, and we decided we were going to try and call the Spear to personally offer to help in any way that we could. We felt helpless at their situation and could only image how they felt! It was very frustrating and we wanted them to know we were with them.

We got a number and called hoping to leave a message on the machine. We were very surprised when Mrs. Rodney answered the phone. My wife spoke with her for some time, and it was a very pleasant and uplifting conversation. We were able to offer our support and prayers and let them know how much we care about them and their situation. When my wife asked Sonia to please pass along our support to Mr. Rodney she put him on the phone! Here we were just hoping to leave a message and we end up getting to speak with both Mr. and Mrs. Rodney on the phone! We are truly blessed.

I was sitting on the couch when my wife suddenly had a look of shock flash across her face. I, of course, asked what was wrong, to which she replied, "She putting him on the phone!" Well, you can image how I felt. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I was in shock! My wife said hi to Burning Spear and then asked him if would speak to me, a lifelong fan of his. Then she handed me the phone.

Well, I was totally unprepared for this. I mean, how would you feel if you suddenly had the chance to talk to someone you have watched from afar for over 25 years? I mean, I grew up listening to his music. His albums represent different times in my life and songs evoke very specific memories for me. His music has helped me through illness, depression, the death of my father and so many struggles in my life. Now, here he is on the phone with me, and what do i do? I totally flub it! LOL I had a million things running through my head all at once, and I just started talking. I barely gave the man a chance to get a word in. I just wanted him to know how important his music was and still is to me. After a few minutes I passed the phone back to my wife and just sat there in awe. Then I ran into my 8 year old son's room and told him all about it!

I'm very honored that I was given the chance to express my appreciation to Burning Spear directly. I will never forget that day. They were kind enough to send us some T-shirts, pens and stickers. You can see the picture of one of the shirts we got above.

You can listen to Burning Spear online 24/7 by clicking on the photo to the right. The Spear himself is the DJ and he selects and updates the playlist. This is a great way to enjoy the vibes and relax to some sweet reggae music. Take a few moments to check it out and remember to recommend it to your friends and family so they can experience the Spear and his music. Give it a listen!