Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (February 1, 1957 – July 1, 1999) was a reggae singer from Jamaica. He recorded more than 75 albums during his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was eleven years old and was a major star of lovers rock, a subgenre of reggae. Bob Marley referred to Brown as “The Crown Prince of Reggae,” and he would have a lasting influence on future generations of reggae singers.
In 1972, Brown began an association that would lead to his international success; he was asked by Joe Gibbs to record an album for him, and one of the tracks recorded as a result, “Money in my Pocket,” became a hit with UK reggae audiences and quickly became a favorite of his live performances. Winston “Niney” Holness produced the original version of “Money in My Pocket” on behalf of Gibbs, with musical assistance from the Soul Syndicate.
In the same year, Brown appeared in a Christmas morning showcase in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, alongside Delroy Wilson, Scotty, Errol Dunkley, and the Fabulous Flames, where he was billed as the “Boy Wonder of Jamaica” and was deemed the show’s star by a local newspaper review.
Dennis Brown’s parents: Meet Arthur Brown
Dennis Brown was born at the Victoria Jubilee Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. His father, Arthur, was a scriptwriter, actor, and journalist, and he grew up in a large tenement yard between North Street and King Street in Kingston with his parents, three elder brothers, and a sister, though his mother died in the 1960s.
He began his singing career at the age of nine, while still in junior school, with an end-of-term concert, the first time he performed in public, though he had been interested in music since a child, and was a fan of American balladeers such as Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin.
