Denroy Morgan (15 May 1945 – 3 March 2022) was a Jamaican-born American

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

artist. Morgan traveled to the United States in 1965, at the age of 20, to become a musician. He was part of the formation of the Black Eagles, a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

reggae band in the 1970s, before launching a prosperous solo career in the 1980s onwards. His children, encouraged by his success, have also taken on musical careers themselves including Laza Morgan,

Gramps Morgan Roy "Gramps" Morgan (born July 7, 1976) is a Jamaican Americans, Jamaican-American singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, producer, record executive, and entrepreneur. Gramps was born in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, but was raised partially in Sp ...

, and in family bands LMS and Morgan Heritage.

In the Black Eagles

Morgan had started in the 1970s and created the Black Eagles, a reggae band in

in 1974 with Devon "Igo Levi" Foster and Llewellyn "Jah T" Breadwood. The Black Eagles won the New York Reggae Music Festival in 1977, beginning Denroy's rise to fame that continued into the early 1980s. In 1981, Morgan had his most successful release with "I'll Do Anything For You", which featured musical backing from the Black Eagles and peaked at number nine on the American soul chart. "I'll Do Anything For You" also peaked at number seven on the dance charts. These successes helped to launch his solo reggae career.

Solo career

Morgan found success in the States in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

with the release of his ''I'll Do Anything for You'' album, when the title track became a big R&B and

Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

hit. In the realm of reggae, however, Morgan's peak period was when he signed in 1984 with RCA Records. That deal led to the release of the reggae album ''Make My Day'' and marked him as the first reggae artist to be signed to RCA Records. In March 2014 he announced that he was working on a new album, ''Half N Half'', featuring cover versions of Bob Marley songs and excerpts from speeches by

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

, as well as working on an updated version of his memoirs, ''Confession Aloud''.Campbell-Livingston, Cecelia (2014) ". In October 2016 he headlined the Gala Opening of the Peter Tosh Museum in Kingston, Jamaica. Before the close of 2016 he was awarded for Community Service in Harlem, NY. In April 2017 he released his return album MUZICAL UNITY distributed by VPAL and in June 2017, he reformed his band the Black Eagles. Shortly after they headlined the 26th International African Arts Festival in July & the Wingate Concert Series in August where he was awarded the key to the City of Brooklyn and he appeared numerous times in the NY and New England area
Denroy Looks to the East
, ''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 26 March 2014. Retrieved 26 March 2014

Personal life

Morgan died from cancer at his home in

Lawrenceville, Georgia Lawrenceville is a city in and the county seat of Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Atlanta, located approximately northeast of downtown. It was incorporated on December 15, 1821. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

, on March 3, 2022. He is survived by his wife Hyacinth Morgan, his 30 children, 104 grandchildren, and 15 great grandchildren.

Musical legacy

His children were all musical growing up and have since formed two separate bands and one is a successful solo act. *The reggae band Morgan Heritage is made up of his children Peter "Peetah" Morgan, Una Morgan, Roy "Gramps" Morgan, Nakhamyah "Lukes" Morgan and Memmalatel "Mr. Mojo" Morgan. *The dancehall / hip hop band LMS is made up of his children, the trio Noshayah Morgan, Otiyah "Laza" Morgan and Miriam Morgan *Otiyah Morgan known as Laza Morgan is also a solo act with singles like "This Girl" and "One by One" the latter featuring Mavado. Other famous collaborations include being featured in

Alexandra Burke Alexandra Imelda Cecelia Ewen Burke (born 25 August 1988) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She won the fifth series of the talent television show ''The X Factor'' in 2008. Following the show, she was signed to Syco Music and releas ...

's hit " Start Without You" and in Kristina Maria release "

Co-Pilot In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is a pilot in addition to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft. Requirement Hi ...

" *Roy Morgan known as

, in addition to being of Morgan Heritage, is also a successful solo act with two albums ''Two Sides of My Heart'' and ''Reggae Music Lives'' and was featured in India.Arie hit song "Therapy". *Roy "Gramps" Morgan's son Jemere Morgan has also launched a solo music career.Henry, Davina (2012)
Chatting With Gramps
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper in the Western Hemisphere. Original ...

'', 2 July 2012, retrieved 2012-07-03 His debut single "First Kiss" was released in August 2011.

Discography

Morgan's discography encompassed 9 albums, twenty-six singles & EPs, and 1 compilation.

Albums

*''I'll Do Anything For You'' (1981) *''Johnny B Good Tonite'' (1982) *''Make My Day'' (1984) *''I'll Do Anything For You / Sweet Tender Love'' (1990) ROHIT Records *''Salvation'' (1998) Denroy Morgan discography @Discogs.com
Retrieved 1-14-2012.

References

External links

Official website

Denroy Morgan
on

Myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Denroy 1945 births 2022 deaths Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican reggae musicians Musicians from Clarendon Parish, Jamaica