Henry Hugh James (3 July 1952 – 19 December 2015), better known as Peter Broggs, was a Jamaican

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the ho ...

vocalist and songwriter.

Life

Born in 1952 in

Hanover Parish Hanover () is a parish located on the northwestern tip of the island of Jamaica. It is a part of the county of Cornwall, bordered by St. James in the east and Westmoreland in the south. With the exception of Kingston, it is the smallest par ...

, Jamaica, in the early 1970s, Broggs moved to

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

to seek out business opportunities. Recorded at

King Tubby Osbourne Ruddock (28 January 1941 – 6 February 1989), better known as King Tubby, was a Jamaican sound engineer who influenced the development of dub music in the 1960s and 1970s. Tubby's studio work, in which as a mixing engineer he achiev ...

's, engineered by Scientist and backed by

Roots Radics The Roots Radics Band is a Jamaican reggae group, formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. The nucleus of Holt and Lamont had previously worked together in the ...

, Broggs' debut album ''Progressive Youth'', was released in 1979 on the UK

Greensleeves "Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song. A broadside ballad by the name "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves" was registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationers' Company in September 1580,Frank Kidson, ''English F ...

label, featuring a version of Tony Brevett's hit, ''Don't Get Weary'' ( also versioned by

Tapper Zukie Tapper Zukie (or Tappa Zukie) (born David Sinclair, 1955, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica) is a roots reggae Deejay (Jamaican), deejay and record producer, producer.Greene, Jo-AnnTapper Zukie Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-02-15 Biog ...

). The song "

Jah Jah or Yah (, ''Yāh'') is a short form of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the personal name of God: Yahweh, which the ancient Israelites used. The conventional Christian English pronunciation of ''Jah'' is , even though the letter J here transliter ...

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign (or viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory ...

" was recorded at the

Channel One Studios Channel One is a recording studio in Maxfield Avenue, West Kingston, Jamaica. The studio was built by the Hoo Kim brothers in 1972, and has had a profound influence on the development of reggae music. History Joseph Hoo Kim's parents ran a bar a ...

and

studios then released in the UK on the short-lived

and dub Selena record label in 1980. His ''

Rastafari Rastafari is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion. There is no central authori ...

Liveth!'' album, recorded with

, was the first release on RAS Records in 1982. On his 1990 album ''Reasoning'', Broggs was backed by

The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Rober ...

and

. In 2000 he released ''Jah Golden Throne'', a collaboration with

Jah Warrior Jah Warrior is a United Kingdom roots reggae/ dub production team, record label, sound system, and musical group centred on Steve Mosco. Overview Mosco first got interested in reggae as a teenager in Manchester. He started attending sound sys ...

, in both vocal and dub versions. Broggs suffered a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on 27 August 2004 which left him paralyzed on the right side and hardly able to speak."Sponsor Peter Back to Health Project", peterbroggs.com The album ''

Igziabeher Igziabeher (; ) literally translates to "Lord of the nation" or "tribe," i.e. the Christian God, in the Ge'ez language, as well as modern Ethio-semitic languages including Amharic. Igziabher in Ge'ez is composed of (Lord, ruler) plus a euphonic ...

Yakal'' released in 2005 was recorded with dubcreator at the DC studio for sound system team King Shiloh in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 2002 where the profit helped to cover Broggs' medical expenses. Peter Broggs died on 19 December 2015, aged 63.Sources vary - some state he was 61, others 64

Discography

* ''Progressive Youth'' (1979), Greensleeves * ''

Liveth'' (1982), RAS * ''Rise and Shine'' (1985), RAS * ''Cease the War'' (1987), RAS * ''Reasoning'' (1990), RAS * ''Reggae In Blues'' (1993), Déclic * ''Peter Broggs Sings for the Children'' (1993), Golden Harvest * ''Rejoice'' (1997), RAS * ''Jah Golden Throne'' (2000), Jah Warrior * ''Jah Golden Throne Dubwise'' (2000), Jah Warrior * ''Igzabihir Yakal'' (2005), King Shiloh * ''Fire Fe Lucifer'' (2009), Jah Warrior * '' Never Give Up'' (2009), Jah Warrior ;Compilations: * ''RAS Portraits: Peter Broggs'' (1997), RAS * ''Never Forget Jah - The Early Years 1976-1986'' (2001), Nocturne * ''This Is Crucial Reggae'' (2005), Sabctuary

References

External links

* 1952 births Jamaican reggae musicians 2015 deaths People from Hanover Parish {{Reggae-musician-stub