Buju Banton

Mark Anthony Myrie was born on July 15, 1973, in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in the working-class Salt Lane/Denham Town area as the youngest of a large family. His mother nicknamed him "Buju," a Jamaican term of endearment, in childhood, and he later adopted the surname "Banton" — a Jamaican word for a skilled, respected storyteller or orator — in tribute to the deejay Burro Banton, whom he admired as a boy. He began toasting on local sound systems, including Sweet Love and Rambo Mango, from around age 12 under the moniker "Gargamel," a nickname (after the cartoon villain) that stuck with him throughout his career.

In 1986, fellow deejay Clement Irie introduced the teenage Myrie to producer Robert "Robert Ffrench" French, and his debut single, "The Ruler," followed in 1987. His profile rose steadily through the late 1980s, and in 1991 he signed to Donovan Germain's Penthouse Records, beginning a productive partnership with producer Dave Kelly. His commercial breakthrough came in 1992 with the singles "Bogle" (named for a popular dancehall dance move) and "Love Me Browning," the latter of which drew criticism for apparent colorism and prompted Banton to record the corrective "Love Black Woman" in response; that same period he reportedly broke Bob Marley's long-standing record for the most number-one singles on the Jamaican charts in a single year, establishing him as dancehall's dominant new voice.

Banton's catalogue and reputation carry both major artistic milestones and serious controversy. His 1992 track "Boom Bye Bye" contained lyrics endorsing violence against gay men and drew sustained international condemnation from LGBTQ rights organizations, fueling a "Stop Murder Music" campaign that led promoters to cancel roughly 28 of his scheduled shows between 2005 and 2011; upon his later release from prison he publicly disavowed the song and stated he would not perform it again. By the mid-1990s he had converted to Rastafari, and his sound shifted toward more spiritually conscious material on albums such as "Voice of Jamaica" (1993) and especially "'Til Shiloh" (1995), widely regarded as a landmark record that helped pull dancehall back toward roots-reggae themes. In December 2009 he was arrested in a US federal sting operation and, in February 2011, convicted in Tampa, Florida, of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute; he was sentenced to 10 years, later reduced to seven after a firearms charge was overturned on appeal, and was released from federal prison in December 2018. His 2010 album "Before the Dawn," recorded amid his legal troubles, won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2011 — his sole Grammy win to date among eight nominations.

Following his release, Banton's March 2019 "Long Walk to Freedom" homecoming concert at Jamaica's National Stadium drew tens of thousands of fans and is regarded as one of the largest concerts in Jamaican history, marking a major comeback. He has continued recording prolifically since, releasing "Upside Down 2020" and the Grammy-nominated "Born for Greatness," and in 2024 became the first reggae or dancehall artist to sell out New York's UBS Arena. As of the mid-2020s he remains highly active, having released a further studio album ("Too Too Bad") and co-headlining North American tour dates with Stephen Marley into 2026. Despite the lasting shadow of the "Boom Bye Bye" controversy, which remains a frequent reference point in debates over homophobia in dancehall culture, Banton is regarded as one of the most artistically significant and commercially enduring dancehall deejays of his generation, credited with helping bridge raw dancehall lyricism and Rastafari-conscious roots reggae for a global audience.