Delroy Wilson

Hitmaking reggae legend Delroy Wilson started out as a teen sensation. Born in Kingston’s Trench Town in 1948, Wilson is widely considered Jamaica’s first child star, releasing “Emy Lou” in 1962, when he was just 13. Soon, he was recording Lee Perry-penned ska rebuttals to Prince Buster on behalf of Studio One producer Coxsone Dodd, including the hit “Joe Liges”. As Wilson’s voice dropped, he became an early adopter of the rocksteady sound with tracks like his 1966 smash “Dancing Mood”. His appeal was such that in 1972, the People’s National Party used Wilson’s striver’s anthem “Better Must Come” as its campaign theme. Wilson’s hits came fast and furious during the ’70s for producers that included Keith Hudson, on “Addis Ababa (Place In Africa),” Niney the Observer, on “Rascal Man (False Rasta)”, and Joe Gibbs, on “Pretty Girl”. Wilson’s star diminished—as did many of his peers’—during the digital ’80s, although 1987’s “Stop Acting Strange” for King Jammy remains a keeper. Wilson persevered until 1995, when cirrhosis cut his long career short.