Johnny Nash Artistfacts

August 19, 1940 - October 6, 2020
Born in Houston, Texas, he started his career as a pop singer in the late '50s with his first charting hit, "A Very Special Love."
He formed JAD Records with his manager Danny Sims in 1965 and signed acts like The Cowsills, a group of brothers from Rhode Island who scored their first hit with "The Rain, The Park And Other Things" (after moving on to MGM).
Nash found his groove in Jamaica and recorded his biggest hits "I Can See Clearly Now" and "Stir It Up" with the reggae influence he picked up from local musicians like Bob Marley. Nash signed Marley and his group, The Wailers, but Marley would have his first taste of success outside of Jamaica when Nash included a cover of Marley's "Stir It Up" on his own 1972 album I Can See Clearly Now.
Nash was also an actor who found acclaim with his starring role in the 1959 drama Take A Giant Step, in which he played a black teenager struggling against prejudice in a predominately white town.
"There are three artists who've really influenced me in my singing career," Nash told Melody Maker in 1969. "They are the late Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and Harry Belafonte. They all have something I wish I had."
A horseman who owned a ranch in Texas, the reggae star ran the Johnny Nash Indoor Arena in Houston to host rodeo shows between 1993 and 2002.
Johnny Nash died at his Houston home of natural causes aged 80, after a period of failing health.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

More Songfacts:

My LifeBilly Joel

Billy Joel's "My Life" was used as the theme song to the 1980 TV show Bosom Buddies, which starred a young Tom Hanks as a guy who lives in a hotel for women by dressing up as a girl.

UnbelievableEMF

The EMF song "Unbelievable" samples the raunchy comic Andrew Dice Clay saying, "What the f--k was that!"

Theme From ShaftIsaac Hayes

When "Theme From Shaft" won an Oscar in 1972, Isaac Hayes became the first African American to win in the Best Song category.

Don't Worry Be HappyBobby McFerrin

The song "Don't Worry Be Happy" doesn't use any instruments - it's all Bobby McFerrin using various parts of his body to make the sounds.

Kiss The RainBillie Myers

Desmond Child thought Gavin Rossdale was singing "Kiss The Rain" on the Bush song "Glycerine." When he found out the truth, he wrote a song called "Kiss The Rain" for Billie Myers.