Erroll Starr Francis is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rhythm and blues singer."Starr shines with something for all". ''

Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. ...

'', July 21, 1994. He is most noted for winning the

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year in 1989 for his single "Angel".

Early Life

Originally from

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, Starr's family emigrated to the United Kingdom when he was two years old, after which they moved to Canada and settled in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Starr began his musical journey when his father bought him his first guitar. He then began playing as a guitarist in his father's band. As a teenager, he obtained special permission from the LCBO to play as a minor in bars and clubs. His father was a

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 ...

musician with the band People's Choice."Juno nominee has spiritual base for his songs". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', September 18, 1987.

Musical career

Starr built his early music career in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where concurrently with performing as an R&B singer he was also the front man of the rock band Harbinger. He released the singles "Holding Out for You", "The Key" and "

For the Love of Money "For the Love of Money" is a soul, funk song that was written and composed by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Anthony Jackson; it was recorded by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays for the album '' Ship Ahoy.'' Produced by Gamble and Huff for P ...

" in 1986 and 1987, before releasing his debut album ''Temple of Love'' on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

in 1987. In 1987, he also participated in the recording of a

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

charity single, "A Christmas Wish", with a lineup of Toronto-area performers that also included

Billy Newton-Davis Billy Newton-Davis (born April 26, 1951) is an American-Canadian R&B, jazz and gospel singer and songwriter. Life and career Newton-Davis grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He was one of two lead singers in a local soul ba ...

Kim Richardson Kim Richardson (born December 22, 1965) is a Canadian singer and actress, who won two Juno Awards as a solo recording artist in the 1980s. She is still very active today, being part of over 150 shows, mostly in province of Quebec, in 2017. Ea ...

Frozen Ghost Frozen Ghost, stylized as Frōzen Ghōst, was a Canadian rock band formed in 1985 in Toronto by Arnold Lanni and Wolf Hassel, who were previously with the band Sheriff. The band received a Juno Award for " Most Promising Group of the Year" ...

Prairie Oyster Prairie Oyster was a Canadian country music group from Toronto, Ontario. They were named Country Group or Duo of the year six times by both the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) and the Juno Awards. The band also won the Bud Country Fan ...

Messenjah Messenjah is a Canadian-based reggae group that flourished to become one of the most successful and popular reggae groups in the history of Canadian music. History Messenjah was formed in 1980 in Kitchener, Ontario and released their first albu ...

, The Pursuit of Happiness,

Salome Bey Salome Bey (October 10, 1933 – August 8, 2020)While ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' gives her year of birth as 1939, other sources say she was born in 1933 or 1944. was a U.S.-born Canadian singer-songwriter, composer, and actress who lived in ...

Zappacosta Alfredo Peter "Alfie" Zappacosta (born July 5, 1953), also known by just his surname, is an Italian-born Canadian musician. Career Zappacosta's first band was Surrender, a five-piece group that recorded three albums in the late 1970s and earl ...

Arlene Duncan Arlene Duncan is a Canadian actress and singer. Her father is African Canadian, with ancestors from Nova Scotia. Duncan has appeared in more than 80 film and television roles, in addition to many theatrical productions. She is best known for her ...

and Lorraine Scott. He received his first Juno Award nomination in 1986 for "The Key", and his second in 1987 for "For the Love of Money", and won the award for Best Male Artist at the Black Music Association of Canada awards in 1987. However, he was one of a number of

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

musicians who faced heavy resistance from Canadian radio programmers in this era, and A&M did not renew his contract for another album. In the early 1990s he moved to

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

, working as a record producer and recording music for film, television and commercials. During this era he formed a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

duo, North Starr, with colleague Mike Northcott, and released his second album, ''From the Inside Out'', on the independent label Asoma Records in 1994. He has continued to perform occasional live appearances at public events. In 2024, Starr told his story in the Digital Sabbath Film Company short film
Temple of Love: The Errol Starr Story

Personal life

In the early 2000s, he and his family moved to Killaloe, where they built an environmentally sustainable

off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical ...

home in the

Earthship An Earthship is a style of architecture developed in the late 20th century to early 21st century by architect Mike Reynolds (architect), Michael Reynolds. Earthships are designed to behave as Passive solar building design, passive solar earth s ...

style. His niece, Tasha Schumann, is a rapper who performs under the stage name

Tasha the Amazon Tasha the Amazon, born Tasha Schumann, is a Canadian rapper, singer-songwriter, hip hop producer,

."Tasha the Amazon standing tall". ''

Waterloo Region Record The ''Waterloo Region Record'' (formerly ''The Record'') is the daily newspaper covering Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, including the cities of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener, Waterloo, Ontario, Water ...

'', April 6, 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starr, Erroll Canadian rhythm and blues singers 20th-century Black Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian male singers Jamaican emigrants to Canada Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year winners Singers from Toronto Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Singers from Ontario Living people Year of birth missing (living people)