Everton Hardweare (born 23 November 1967), better known by his stage name Singing Melody, is a reggae artist from

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. He is known for his abilities as a vocalist, his production work and for combining aspects of reggae and R&B in his own releases.

Biography

Everton Hardweare grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. In the 1980s, he met well-known reggae/ dub producer King Tubby. Tubby produced his first single, "Tie Me," which was released on Firehouse in 1987. He then caught the attention of production duo Steely & Clevie, who produced his first hit, a reggae cover of the R&B single " Shower Me with Your Love" by Surface. In 1990, Melody recorded the Japanese language single "Sayonara Tokyo" for

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

, and was subsequently booked to perform at a concert in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Based on the success of the single and concert, Melody signed with Parish Records and released his first LP, titled ''Original'', in 1992, which was distributed by the Queens-based record label VP Records. Singing Melody found widespread success with his sophomore LP ''Sweeter'', which was released by VP Records in 1999. The single "Want You Back" reached #1 on the ''Jamaica Star''s reggae/

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

chart, and the music video for the song reached the #2 position on the

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

playlist. The song also won "Song of the Year" at the 1999 Reggae/Soca Music Awards. Melody also won the "Best Male Vocalist International" award at the 12th annual Tamika Reggae Awards. In the 2000s, he began producing tracks for artists including Morgan Heritage, Richie Stephens, and Turbulence. He started his own label, S.H.E.M. Music Productions, and helped promote the annual Kingston reggae concert "Symphony Under the Stars." In 2002, Singing Melody released his third LP, ''Expressions'', on VP Records. Singing Melody released his fourth LP, ''

They Call Me Mr. Melody ''They Call Me Mr. Melody'' is a studio album by a Jamaican reggae singer Singing Melody. The album was released on January 17, 2012 through S.H.E.M. MUSIC/FAT EYES/ VPAL. Production The album is Singing Melody's seventh, taking him two year ...

'', on 17 January 2012. It will be released on S.H.E.M. Music/Fat Eyes and distributed by VP Records. The first single from the album is "Collide", a cover of the Howie Day song of the same name. The single reached the #1 position on the Top 20 music chart for

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

. The album includes productions from

Donovan Germain Donovan Germain (born 7 March 1952 in Jamaica) is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era. Biography Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The V ...

, Tony "CD" Kelly, Lynford "Fatta" Marshall, and others.

L.U.S.T.

In the 2000s, Singing Melody formed the reggae group L.U.S.T with Lukie D, Thriller U, and Tony Curtis. They have released two albums, ''Sweetness of Your Love'' in 2007 and ''Inspiration'' in 2010.

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singing Melody 1967 births Living people Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae singers Jamaican male singers VP Records artists