Gregory Isaacs

Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD (15 July 1951 - 25 October 2010) was a Jamaican reggae musician. Many Gregory Isaacs songs, like Night Nurse, become very popular and trendy online with a great number of streaming and downloads on Boomplay.

Milo Miles, writing in The New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".

Career.
In his teenage years, Isaacs became a veteran of the talent contests that regularly took place in Jamaica. In 1968, he made his recording debut as Winston Sinclair, with the single "Another Heartache", recorded for producer Byron Lee.

The single sold poorly and Isaacs went on to team up with Errol Dunkley to start the African Museum record label and shop, and soon had a massive hit with "My Only Lover", credited as the first lovers rock record ever made.

He recorded for other producers to finance further African Museum recordings, having a string of hits in the three years that followed, ranging from ballads to roots reggae, including "All I Have Is Love", "Lonely Soldier", "Black a Kill Black", "Extra Classic" and his cover version of Dobby Dobson's "Loving Pauper".

In 1974, he began working with producer Alvin Ranglin, and that year he had his first Jamaican no. 1 single with "Love Is Overdue".

Follow Boomplay and keep up-to-date with the latest Gregory Isaacs songs and information.

Achievement.
Isaacs recorded for many of Jamaica's top producers during the 1970s, including Winston "Niney" Holness, Gussie Clarke ("My Time"), Lloyd Campbell ("Slavemaster"), Glen Brown ("One One Coco"), Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sydney Crooks and Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Mr. Cop").

By the late-1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, and only challenged by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley. Between 1977 and 1978, Isaacs again teamed up with Alvin Ranglin, recording a string of hits including "Border" and "Number One" for Ranglin's GG's label.

He opened the Cash and Carry shop at 118 Orange Street, later moving to no. 125, next door to Prince Buster's Record Shack, which was also the base for the Cash and Carry record label that he ran with Trevor "Leggo" Douglas.

International stardom seemed assured in 1978 when Isaacs signed to the Virgin Records offshoot Front Line Records, and appeared in the film Rockers, in which he performed "Slavemaster".

The Cool Ruler (which became one of his nicknames) and Soon Forward albums, however, failed to sell as well as expected, although they are now considered among his best work.

In 1981, he made his first appearance at the Reggae Sunsplash festival (returning annually until 1991), and he moved on to the Charisma Records offshoot Pre, who released his The Lonely Lover (another nickname that stuck) and More Gregory albums along with a string of increasingly successful singles including "Tune In", "Permanent Lover", "Wailing Rudy" and "Tribute to Waddy".

He signed to Island Records and released the record that finally saw him break through to a wider audience, "Night Nurse", the title track from his first album for the label (Night Nurse (1982).

Although "Night Nurse" was not a chart hit in either the UK or US, it was hugely popular in clubs and received heavy radio play, and the album reached number 32 in the UK. It was also used in adverts for an over the counter cold & flu remedy of the same name.

Isaacs died of lung cancer on 25 October 2010 at his home in Harrow Weald, London. A memorial service was held on 20 November at Kingston's National Indoor Sports Centre, including a musical tribute from artists including Lloyd Parks and We the People Band, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Shaggy, Judy Mowatt, Mavado, the Tamlins and Bongo Herman, before his remains were interred at the Dovecot Cemetery.

Gregory Isaacs Albums
More than 500 Gregory Isaacs albums have been released to date, a great many of them being compilations of previously released material. Only some studio albums of original material are listed below:
• 1975: In Person (Trojan)
• 1976: All I Have Is Love (Trojan)
• 1977: Extra Classic (African Museum)
• 1977: Mr Isaacs (DEB)
• 1978: Cool Ruler (Front Line)
• 1978: Slum (Gregory Isaacs in Dub) (Burning Sounds)
• 1978: The Best of Gregory Isaacs (GG's)
• 1979: Soon Forward (Front Line)
• 1979: Gregory Isaacs Meets Ronnie Davis (Plant), with Ronnie Davis
• 1980: Showcase (Taxi)
• 1980: Lonely Lover (Pre)
• 1981: More Gregory (Pre)
• 1982: Night Nurse (Island/Mango)
• 1983: The Sensational Gregory isaacs (Vista)
• 1983: Out Deh! (Island/Mango)
• 1984: Let's Go Dancing
• 1985: Judge Not (Greensleeves), with Dennis Brown
• 1985: Private Beach Party (Greensleeves & RAS)
• 1985: Easy (Tad's)

Gregory Isaacs songs are included in Boomplay music playlists. Search to stream and download Gregory Isaacs songs MP3/ single/ albums on the platform