Marvin Cornell Elliott (born 27 October 1981), better known by his stage name Marvin Priest, is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English ...

-born, Australian-based singer-songwriter. In November 2011 Priest released his debut studio album, ''Beats & Blips'', in Australia, which spawned the top ten single " Own This Club" on the

ARIA Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

, as well as top one-hundred singles "Take Me Away" and "Feel the Love". "Own This Club" was also a top ten hit in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. At the

APRA Music Awards of 2012 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2012 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2012 was the 30t ...

the track, which was co-written by Priest with Antonio Egizii and David Musumeci (of

DNA Songs DNA Songs is a songwriting and production company founded by Anthony Egizii and David Musumeci in Australia in 2004. They have worked with a variety of international and local artists including Ricky Martin, Geri Halliwell, The Veronicas, Guy Se ...

), won an award for Urban Work of the Year and was nominated for Most Played Australian Work.

Biography

1981–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Marvin Priest was born as Marvin Cornell Elliott on 27 October 1981 in Lewisham, London, England and is the son of UK reggae singer

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

(born 10 June 1961).. Priest has eight siblings and one of his younger brothers, Ryan Elliott, was in the UK

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

, Ultimate Kaos, which achieved chart success in the 1990s. Priest listened to R&B, hip-hop and reggae music and he travelled the world with his father and family. In 2007, Priest first toured with

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae and pop 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 ...

, performing as a backing vocalist at the Raggamuffin Music Festival. He has since worked with other artists. Priest co-wrote "Full Hundred" on his father's album ''2 the Max'' (2005) and featured on "Childhood", a track from Maxi's album, ''Refused'' (2007). Priest appeared on UB40's album, '' TwentyFourSeven'', co-writing "Slow Down" and featuring in "Dance Until the Morning Light" and a remix of "

I Shot the Sheriff "I Shot the Sheriff" is a song written by Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley and released in 1973 with his band Bob Marley and the Wailers. Bob Marley and the Wailers version The song was first released in 1973 on The Wailers' album '' Burni ...

". After touring Australia in 2008, Priest set up connections with local club artists, and spent about half a year in the country. In 2010, Priest performed a duet with

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career s ...

for the latter's album, ''

Duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

'', where they covered

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in ...

' 1970 single " Wild World".

2011–present: Breakthrough success and ''Beats & Blips''

On 25 November 2011, Marvin Priest's debut album, ''Beats & Blips'', was released in Australia on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

, but did not chart in Australia. In February that year, he had issued his breakthrough debut single " Own This Club", which peaked at number six on the

and was certified double platinum by ARIA at year's end. It also reached the top ten on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official New Zealand Music Chart ( mi, Te Papa Tātai Waiata Matua o Aotearoa) is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The Mus ...

, peaking at number seven. The song was written as a collaboration with

members Antonio Egizii and David Musumeci. His second single, "Take Me Away" featuring

Wynter Gordon Diana Gordon, previously known by her stage name Wynter Gordon, is an American singer and songwriter. She began her career writing music for other artists, later signing with Atlantic Records where she started to work on her own album. Her deb ...

, was released on 22 July and peaked at number thirty-two on the ARIA Singles Chart, and was certified gold. "Feel the Love" featuring

Fatman Scoop Isaac Freeman III (born August 6, 1971), better known by his stage name Fatman Scoop, is an American rapper, promoter and radio personality famed for his on-stage rough, raw loud voice. He is known for the song " Be Faithful", which topped the c ...

, the third single from ''Beats & Blips'', was released on 25 October and peaked at number sixty in Australia.

Football

Priest has played semi-professional football, and in 2003 he played in the same team as his father

for non-league Southall FC.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

APRA Music Awards

Music Victoria Awards

The

Music Victoria Awards The Music Victoria Awards (previously known as The Age EG Awards and The Age Music Victoria Awards) are an annual awards night celebrating music from the Australian state of Victoria. They commenced in 2006 and are awarded in Melbourne Music W ...

, are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2005. , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, himself , Best Reggae or Dance Hall Act , , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

, himself , Best Reggae or Dance Hall Act , , - ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, himself , Best Reggae or Dance Hall Act , , -

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Priest, Marvin English pop singers 1981 births Living people APRA Award winners Australian dance musicians Australian people of English descent Australian people of Jamaican descent Australian pop singers Australian singer-songwriters Musicians from Sydney Synth-pop singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century Australian singers 21st-century British male singers Australian male singer-songwriters Southall F.C. players