Tributes continue to flow following the passing, last Thursday night in Georgia, USA, of veteran reggae singer and patriarch of Morgan Heritage singing group, Denroy Morgan.
Minister of Culture Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, noting that the 76-year-old Morgan was one of the artistes who made reggae internationally famous, said: “It is sad to receive this news just as we have closed a successful Reggae Month. Denroy Morgan was unique. We will never see anyone like him again, whether in reggae music or in Jamaican life, but I give thanks that his musical legacy will live on in his children.”
She added, “I send my condolences, love and respect to the Morgan Heritage family. To Denroy, my brother, sleep in peace in Zion.”
On Saturday morning, Denroy’s son, Gramps, wrote on social media, “A man from Clarendon, Jamaica, West Indies, my father @rasdenroymorgan your works live on #rastafari. Help me celebrate him, his life and his music. He worked up to the last day. UNBELIEVABLE.”
Shaggy spoke gloriously of Denroy Morgan. “I had the pleasure of rehearsing at their Brooklyn studios in the early ‘90s and was moved by his love and devotion to his family … the Morgan Heritage band, which consisted of his children as band members, all stellar musicians, continue to be a force to be reckoned with. He will be terribly missed! Condolences to the Morgan family. Our culture mourns this loss!” Shaggy said.
Denroy Morgan was born in May Pen, Clarendon, on May 15, 1945, and moved to the USA in 1965. There he registered at the New York School of Music, where he briefly studied guitar and piano, before starting the Mad Creators and Black Eagles bands.
Morgan then launched a successful solo career, releasing his Billboard chart-topping hit I’ll Do Anything for You and an album of the same name. In 1984, he became the first reggae artiste to be signed to RCA Records and later released the reggae album Make My Day.
Morgan also became the silent driving force behind a growing empire of reggae artistes, namely, his own children. While touring and recording, he saw their musical aptitude and interest, so he put his own musical career on hold in order to build on their talents. The efforts paid off handsomely, and his children formed several groups, including The Dreads, LMS, and the internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning roots and culture band Morgan Heritage.
SPIRITUAL CALLING
In 1975, Morgan had a spiritual calling that inspired him to become a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel Rastafari group, and in the ‘70s and ‘80s his home in Brooklyn, NY, was a hub for Twelve Tribes. Morgan was also ambassador for the Ethiopian Orthodox Coptic Church of North and South America, and he ministered regularly to inmates at the Devens Federal Bureau of Prisons in Massachusetts.
In 2016, he was awarded the Key to the City of Brooklyn in recognition of his support for culture.
Throughout his life, Morgan was a stern advocate for the legalisation of cannabis, and it was one of his greatest joys when it was decriminalised in Jamaica and around the world. In 2006, he began to champion and lead the All Mansion campaign, which worked for the unification of various Rastafarian organisations and communities worldwide. After being ordained a bishop, he started the Abrahamic Covenant Family Ministry that created the petition for the United Nations to make November 2, the coronation day of HIM Haile Selassie I, an international holiday.
Denroy Morgan is survived by his widow Hyacinth, his 30 children, 104 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
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