Alton Ellis

Alton Ellis was a key figure in the development of rocksteady in mid-’60s Jamaica. Born in Kingston in 1938, he started out as an R&B singer, cutting records in duos with his sister Hortense Ellis and with Eddy Parkins. By 1965, he had formed Alton Ellis & The Flames and had started working with legendary producers like Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid. The ska sounds that had been in vogue in Jamaica evolved into the slower, more swinging rocksteady style, and Ellis was at the forefront of the movement. On singles like “Don’t Trouble People”, “Dance Crasher” and “Girl I’ve Got a Date” he helped lay down the template for the sound, and his 1967 single “Rock Steady” is widely regarded as the song that gave the genre its name. Ellis moved with the times and eventually evolved into a roots-reggae artist, continuing to work into the 2000s before passing away in 2008 at the age of 70.