Alphonso Martin (born 20 March 1956) is a British musician best known as a

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

for the

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the ...

group

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

. He joined Steel Pulse in 1976 as a friend of

David Hinds David Hinds (born 15 June 1956) is a British musician and the founding member, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist for the reggae band Steel Pulse. Life and career Hinds was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, to parents who migrated to t ...

. He played percussion and backup vocals for fifteen years, and also contributed lead vocals on the songs "Shining", "Your House", "Reaching Out", "Soul of My Soul", and "Evermore", until leaving the band in 1991 after the release of ''

Victims Victim(s) or The Victim may refer to: People * Crime victim * Victim, in psychotherapy, a posited role in the Karpman drama triangle model of transactional analysis Films and television * ''The Victim'' (1916 film), an American silent film by t ...

'' to pursue other interests. He is the father of Shakira Martin, the 2011

Miss Jamaica Universe Miss Universe Jamaica (formerly Miss Jamaica Universe) is a beauty pageant that selects the contestant to represent Jamaica at the Miss Universe beauty pageant. History Although Jamaica started competing at the Miss Universe Pageant in 1961, ...

winner who died aged 30 on 3 August 2016 as a consequence of

sickle-cell disease Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of blood disorders typically inherited from a person's parents. The most common type is known as sickle cell anaemia. It results in an abnormality in the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin found in red ...

. He lives in Birmingham.

References

1956 births Living people Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands British reggae musicians {{percussionist-stub