Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese-British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his genre-blending sound and socially conscious lyrics; his music has blended elements of pop,

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

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 ...

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, African polyrhythms, and

Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...

genres such as

samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

, among many others. In addition to this, he also helped to pioneer the genre of " ringbang". He was a founding member of

the Equals The Equals are an English rock band. They are best remembered for their million-selling chart-topper " Baby, Come Back", though they had several other chart hits in the UK and Europe. Drummer John Hall founded the group with Eddy Grant, Pat L ...

, one of the United Kingdom's first racially mixed pop groups who are best remembered for their million-selling UK chart-topper, the Grant-penned " Baby, Come Back". His subsequent solo career included the 1982 song " I Don't Wanna Dance", plus the platinum 1983 single " Electric Avenue", which is his biggest international hit. He earned a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for the song. He is also well known for the 1988 anti-apartheid song " Gimme Hope Jo'anna".

Early life

Grant was born in Plaisance,

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

(now

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

), later moving to Linden.Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , p. 202.Eddy Grant – the Ringbang man and a national icon is a ‘Special Person’
, ''Kaieteur News'', 3 March 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2016 His father, Patrick, was a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

er who played in Nello and the Luckies. While he was at school, his parents lived and worked in the United Kingdom, sending back money for his education. In 1960, he emigrated to join his parents in London.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 111–114 He lived in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Camden, Camden. The neighbourhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History ...

, where he learned to read and write music.Lewis, Pete (2008)
Eddy Grant: Electric Interview
, ''Blues & Soul'', Issue 1076. Retrieved 28 April 2016 He became a big fan of

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

, and after seeing him play at the Finsbury Park Astoria decided on a career in music.''100 Years of British Music'', Omnibus Press, 2014,

Career

The Equals

In 1965, Grant formed

, playing guitar and singing background vocals, and the band had two hit albums and a minor hit with the single "I Get So Excited" before having a number one hit in 1968 with his song " Baby, Come Back". The tune also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1994, when covered by Pato Banton featuring Robin and

Ali Campbell Alistair Ian Campbell (born 15 February 1959) is an English singer and songwriter who was lead singer and co-founder of the British reggae band UB40. UB40 sold more than 70 million records worldwide and toured for 30 years with the original l ...

of the

group

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

. The Equals had five further top 40 hits in the UK up to the end of 1970. The ''Baby Come Back'' album featured a song by Grant titled " Police on My Back," which was recorded by

the Clash The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...

for their 1980 album ''

Sandinista! ''Sandinista!'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, gospe ...

''. Willie Nile released his version of "Police on My Back" on his '' Streets of New York'' CD. The Equals' song "Green Light" co-written by Grant from their 1968 album ''Supreme'', was recorded by the Detroit Cobras, for their 2007

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' Tied & True''. In this period he also worked as a songwriter and producer for other artists, including the Pyramids (producing their debut single "Train Tour to Rainbow City") and

Prince Buster Cecil Bustamente Campbell (24 May 1938 – 8 September 2016), known professionally as Prince Buster, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer. The records he released in the 1960s influenced and shaped the course of Jamaican contemporary ...

, for whom he wrote "Rough Rider", and started the Torpedo record label, releasing British-made

singles.

Ice Records

On 1 January 1971, Grant suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

and collapsed lung, leading to his departure from the Equals to concentrate on production, opening his own Coach House Studios in the grounds of his

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

home in 1972, and starting

Ice Records Ice Records is a record label based in Barbados owned by musician Eddy Grant. In addition to Grant's music, the label also seeks "to record, promote and market classic Calypso music, calypso, Soca music, soca and ringbang (Grant's fusion of variou ...

in 1974, initially distributed by

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

and later by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. He produced the Pioneers' 1976 album ''Feel the Rhythm'', as well as early recordings by his younger brother Rudy, working under the name the Mexicano. During this time he also branched out of music, learning to

tap dance Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its ow ...

, and subsequently trying his hand at acting at the behest of fellow Guyanese immigrant actor Norman Beaton.

Solo

A self-titled solo album released in 1975 made little impact, as did the proto- soca '' Message Man'', completed and released in 1977, on which Grant played all the instruments himself. His breakthrough as a solo artist came two years later with the album '' Walking on Sunshine'', which spawned the UK top 20 hit "Living on the Frontline". He returned to that chart in 1980 with the top 10 hit " Do You Feel My Love", the opening track of '' Can't Get Enough'', the 1981 album giving him his first entry in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

.Eddy Grant
,

Official Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...

. Retrieved 28 April 2016 The album included two further hit singles, "Can't Get Enough of You" and "I Love You, Yes I Love You". From 1982 onward, Grant was based in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

(where he opened his Blue Wave Studios), the same year releasing his most successful album, '' Killer on the Rampage'', which included his two biggest solo hits, " I Don't Wanna Dance", which spent three weeks at number one in the UK as well as selling well internationally, and " Electric Avenue", which reached number 2 in both the UK and the US. He also began producing and promoting local artists such as David Rudder, Mighty Gabby, Tamu Hibbert, and Grynner. A lean period followed; his 1984 title song for the movie '' Romancing the Stone'' was cut from the film and stalled outside the UK top 50 when released as a single, although it fared better in the US and Canada. His albums '' Going for Broke'' (1984), ''Born Tuff'' (1987), and '' File Under Rock'' (1988) failed to chart and produced no further hit singles. Grant participated in Prince Edward's charity television special '' The Grand Knockout Tournament'' (1987). Grant returned to the charts in 1988 with the anti-apartheid single " Gimme Hope Jo'anna", a number 7 hit in the UK. The song was banned by the South African government.Perry, Andrew (2008)
How Eddy Grant gave hope to South Africa
, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 27 June 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2016 In the late 1980s he pursued other business interests including music publishing and a nightclub, and built up the success of his Blue Wave studio, which was used by

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

, Sting,

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, author and television host. According to ''Rolling Stone'', Costello "reinvigorated the literate, lyrical ...

. Grant continued releasing albums in the 1990s, including ''Barefoot Soldier'' (1990), ''Paintings of the Soul'' (1992), ''Soca Baptism'' (1993) and ''Hearts and Diamonds'' (1999). In 1994 he introduced a new genre, ringbang, at the Barbados Crop Over festival. Grant said of ringbang: "What ringbang seeks to do is envelop all the rhythms that have originated from Africa so that they become one, defying all geographical boundaries." In 2000 he organised the Ringbang Celebration festival in

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

. In 2001, a remix of "Electric Avenue" reached number 5 in the UK and an attendant Greatest Hits album reached number 3 in that country. In 2004, Grant created a song for the yogurt based drink Yop, to the tune of "Gimme Hope Jo'anna". On 18 April 2006, Grant released the album '' Reparation''. The title of this album is a call for restitution for the transatlantic slave trade. There was an 11 year gap before his next album, when he released his 2017 album '' Plaisance''. In 2008, he performed at

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

's 90th birthday concert, and also played several dates in the UK, including the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. As of 2023, Grant has refused to allow his music on

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

platforms such as

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

, out of protest for how the platforms pay artists. However, in February 2024, his album ''Killer on the Rampage'' became available on the aforementioned streaming services again, including the original version of "Electric Avenue."

Copyright infringement lawsuit against Donald Trump

In September 2020, Grant sued

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, who was

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

at the time, for unauthorised use of Grant's 1983 chart hit " Electric Avenue" in an August 2020 presidential campaign video. Trump posted the video on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

where it was viewed more than 13 million times before Twitter took it down after Grant's copyright complaint. Grant's song plays during 40 seconds of the animated 55-second video. Trump unsuccessfully attempted to have the suit dismissed, citing fair use and "absolute presidential immunity". Grant asked for US$300,000 in damages. Trump's attorney told the court that the deposition contained sensitive information about Trump's presidential campaign strategy. He asked that Trump and campaign advisor Dan Scavino's testimony be permanently sealed because it would give an "unwarranted competitive advantage" to his opponents in the 2024 presidential election, and because it "could be used against them in other, parallel, litigations unrelated to this matter". On 13 September 2024, the court ruled that fair use did not apply to the campaign ad and that Trump had to pay Grant damages in an amount to be determined by a jury, as well as Grant's legal fees. "The video is best described as a wholesale copying of music to accompany a political campaign ad," the judge wrote. ''Copyrightlately'' noted: "With liability established, the case will now focus on determining damages." On 20 November 2024, the court issued an order stating that the two sides had settled the lawsuit and that the case would be discontinued. The order did not disclose the terms of the settlement.

Awards and nominations

In 2016, it was announced that Grant would receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the government of

. He was previously honoured with a postage stamp featuring his likeness and ringbang logo by the Guyana Post Office Corporation in 2005. Grant was nominated for a Grammy in the 26th Annual Grammy Awards for his song "Electric Avenue".

Discography

*''Eddy Grant'' (1975) *'' Message Man'' (1977) *'' Walking on Sunshine'' (1979) *''Love in Exile'' (1980) *'' Can't Get Enough'' (1981) *'' Killer on the Rampage'' (1982) *'' Going for Broke'' (1984) *''Born Tuff'' (1986) *'' File Under Rock'' (1988) *''Barefoot Soldier'' (1990) *''Paintings of the Soul'' (1992) *''Soca Baptism'' (1993) *''Hearts and Diamonds'' (1999) *'' Reparation'' (2006) *'' Plaisance'' (2017)

Bibliography

Lloyd Bradley Lloyd Bradley (born 21 January 1955) is a British music journalist and author, whose books include 2013's ''Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital''. Biography Born in London, England, to recent immigrants from St Kitts, Br ...

, '' Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital'' (contributor), Serpent's Tail, 2013,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Eddy 1948 births Living people 20th-century Guyanese male singers English male guitarists Guyanese emigrants to the United Kingdom English male singer-songwriters 20th-century English singer-songwriters English reggae musicians 20th-century Black British male singers 20th-century English male singers Guyanese reggae singers English rock singers 21st-century Guyanese male singers British disco musicians Guyanese people of African descent British Guiana people Epic Records artists Parlophone artists English lead guitarists English rock guitarists People from Kentish Town Recipients of the Wordsworth McAndrew Award English pop singers British political music artists Reggae rock musicians 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century English male singers People from Linden, Guyana Second British Invasion artists Guyanese expatriates in Barbados British expatriates in Barbados English funk musicians British world music musicians English soul singers Soca musicians Electropop musicians British reggae singers Disco singers Singers from the London Borough of Camden