Guyana

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Guyana is the only English Speaking country in South America.

Guyana which is the only English speaking country in South America, always had strong ties with it's neighbouring Caribbean Islands such as Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Grenada, Antigua, Bahamas, ST Kitts & Nevis, ST Vincent & the Grenadines, ST Martin, Aruba, US Virgin Islands & British Virgin Islands through a similar dialect of English, broken english, patwa and some gibberish.

Reggae, Soca & Oldies the main genre of music, sunshine, sports and a similar diet makes Guyana & the Caribbean Islands one huge family. We all ah one family, one love, smile -- The sport Cricket is a huge part of the alliance of Guyana & the Caribbean forming the West Indies Cricket Team.

   Guyana Kaieteur Falls Cuffy St Georges Church Stabroek Market The game Cricket The new generation of Guyana.(School children)

Natural Black is a reggae singer from Guyana Born Mortimer Softley in Georgetown Guyana. He moved to Jamaica to pursue his dream of being a reggae singer, after a period of service in the army. He has had several hits in Jamaica, including "Far From Reality" and "Nice it Nice.

As a widely acclaimed artist,he has a large Guyanese fan base as well as Caribbean European and Latin America. He is currently signed to Vision Sound Studios of Guyana. As a widely acclaimed artist,he has a large Guyanese fan base as well as Caribbean European and Latin America. He is currently signed to Vision Sound Studios of Guyana. His style and personality has made him a favorite among some of the top record producers and show promoters in Jamaica, and throughout the Caribbean. As a result, he has toured extensively and has performed to sold out audiences in Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, Slovenia, Usa, Guyana and through out the Caribbean . He has also performed on most of the major Reggae shows and festivals such as Sting, Reggae Sumfest, Rebel Salute, East Fest, Irie Jamborie and others.

Some of his big tunes are reality check, nice it nice, Babylon ah burn, revolution, never leave you lonely, cry cry smile, tell me why, Why can't we, treat her like a lady and many more.!!!!!

Eddy Grant (born Edmond Montague Grant) was born 5 March 1948) in Plaisance, Guyana is a born musician. When he was still a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, UK, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park.

He had his first Number One hit in 1968, when he was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the multiracial group The Equals, with his self-penned song "Baby Come Back". The tune also later topped the UK Singles Chart again when covered by Pato Banton. Notably, he openly used his songwriting for political purposes, especially against In 1982, his solo recording of "I Don't Wanna Dance" spent three weeks at Number one in the UK Singles Chart. He scored a Top Ten album in the same year, with Killer On The Rampage.the then-current apartheid regime of South Africa.

In 1984 Grant had a minor hit single in the U.S. with his original song written to accompany the Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner film, Romancing the Stone. Despite being commissioned by the film's producers, all but the guitar solo would be cut from the film during its final edit.
Electric Avenue" was both a UK and U.S. number 2 in 1983, selling over a million copies. Plus, a later remix of the song was a UK Top Ten hit in 2001.

Grant set up his own recording company, Ice Records, but more recently has returned to the West Indies from London, choosing Barbados as a more realistic venue for a recording company, rather than his country of origin. He has also produced for the likes of Sting, Mick Jagger and Elvis Costello.

Johnny Braff. Some say he is the best singer from Guyana ever.
YOUNG IN mind though not in age,” is how renowned Guyanese-born singer, Johnny Braff describes himself. The ‘it-boy’ of the 70s music scene both here and abroad, Braff recently sat down with the Guyana Chronicle for a chat on the eve of his soon-to-be-released LP.
Born on Station Street, Kitty, Braff, who “came up from scratch,” recalled his father always announcing his arrival in song during his childhood.

Later moving wi th the Heartbreakers in the mid-60s, which he described as the best singing group in Guyana at the time, Braff had a fortuitous break one night while performing with the group at the ASTOR cinema.
He’d composed a couple of songs and wanted to try them out, a suggestion that caused some anxiety among members of the band who were afraid to move away from their popular numbers. They asked Braff, who was known for singing Ben E. King Songs, “You want to spoil this show or what?”

He however went ahead and sang the songs. One was called ‘It Burns Inside’ and the other ‘A Shower of Tears.’
As fate would have it, Vivian Lee of ACE Records was in the audience that night and sent a message saying he wanted to see Braff after the concert. Lee, who currently resides in Nova Scotia, Canada, was known back then for popular local productions such as the movie, ‘If Wishes Were Horses’ starring popular comedian, Habeeb Khan.
Braff, who is extremely loyal to his former manager, had this to say about the aging Lee: “People say that Vivian used to rob us, but if there were no Vivian Lee, there would be no Johnny Braff or Habeeb Khan.”

‘It Burns Inside’ went on to become a big hit. The singer, who claims that he got the idea for the song while he was having a bath with a bucket of ice cold water, still maintains the upbeat personality which was all part of his charm.
He notes that in those days, “we [Guyanese acts] used to charge the same amount of money like the Americans,” unlike now, where it is the foreign acts who pull the big ticket prices. He speaks frankly on this point, saying that local singers need encouragement. Noting that organizers are more concerned with foreign shows, Braff opined that every show should have Guyanese people on it. “It’s a disgrace that foreigners are allowed to come in and leave with all that money,” he stated.
Popular venues for concerts at the time (late 60s and 70s) included Queens College and the , Astor and Empire Cinemas just to name a few.

Braff is proud of the fact that when he had a show in Barbados, he was “the only singer to have a motorcade meet me” at the airport there. He has also performed in Europe and North America.
Braff has saved some of his mementoes, and has an album full of fliers showing his performance in places such the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, and foreign newspaper articles (pardon the pun) singing his praises.
Since his arrival here last year, he has held a few local shows locally, including a Father’s Day performance at the Princess Hotel, and an Old Years Night do in Buxton, on the lower East Coast.
Braff, who troubles from wanderlust, would have left these shores by now, and says that he has to die before he stops travelling.
The songs on his soon-to-be-released LP, ‘Let’s Live In Love’, were co-written by local architect, Godfrey Proctor.

Dave Martins and the Tradewinds, known for their witty and insightful songs of Caribbean life, the Tradewinds, formed in 1966, have become one of the most revered groups in the West Indies. Led by the versatile Dave Martins (Guyana) with his guitar, vocal and composing ability, the group, like it's name, reflects the span of the Caribbean. o
Tradewinds also includes Clive Rosteing (Trinidad) on drums and vocals, Jeff Japal (Grenada) on keyboards, Richard Terry (Cayman Islands) on bass and Harry Cupid (Barbados) on percussion and vocals.

The band achieved almost instant celebrity when a Dave Martins' original, "Honeymooning couple", one of four songs the band recorded in Toronto in 1966 six months after it was formed, became a runaway hit in the Caribbean. Following on that success, Martins' song-writing ability (he has written 110 Tradewinds originals) kept the band at the forefront of Caribbean popular music for decades as this unique group became part of Caribbean life. Formed in Toronto in 1966 with immigrant musician from the Caribbean (early members were Kelvin Ceballo, Joe Brown, and Glen Sorzano, all of Trinidad, and in later years, Terry Dyal, also a Trinidadian) the band has been based in the Cayman Islands since 1982, continues to record, and still makes occasional appearances playing their music to devoted followers in North America and the Eastern Caribbean.

There is no doubt in the pride of being a West Indian in such Tradewinds classics as "Caribbean Man", "Boyhood Days", "Where Are Your Heroes" and "We Are The Champions". Other compositions such as "Cricket in the Jungle", "Civilization" and "Copycats" make you step back and reflect on the Caribbean way of approaching life, at home and abroad. Other very popular songs, written by Martins, include "Mr. Rooster", "Wong Ping", "You Can't Get", "Not A Blade of grass" and the 1997 release "Gie Dem Shiv" which is a tribute to Guyanese-born West Indian Cricket star Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Although his writing is most known for its variety, imagination, and humour, Martins is also able to stir up tenderness and deep emotion in such creations as "Come Back Again", "A Little while From Now", "Don't Cry, Mama" and "Come Dance With Me".
Dave Martins a proud Guyanese and living legend still writing and recording Caribbean folk and calypso songs.

Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 to a Barbadian father (Ronald Fenty) and a Guyanese mother (Monica Fenty) in the Parish of St. Michael, Barbados.

Rihanna moved with her mother to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z.

Rihanna has sold over 25 million albums worldwide and has had number-one singles in 35 countries. She has achieved nine number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 since first appearing on the chart on June 11, 2005, which is the most by any artist during that time span. Rihanna has sold 5,563,000 albums in the United States. She won World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year at the 2007 World Music Awards, and then Favourite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favourite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the 2008 American Music Awards.

Rihanna won 2 Grammy Awards in 2010 for the single, "Run This Town".
4 Grammys plus many other musial awards,
94 awards won, 185 nominations worldwide.

Melanie Fiona Hallim, (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian recording artist from Toronto, Ontario. She was born to Guyanese immigrant parents (mixed with black, Indian, and Portuguese ethnicities) and grew up in the inner city of Toronto. Living in a music filled household, Fiona says she always knew music was her passion. Her father was a guitarist in a band and would allow her to sit on the stage when she was younger as he practiced, and remembers her mother playing music at home; everything from The Ronettes to Whitney Houston.

Fiona was featured on Reggae Gold 2008 with the Supa Dups-produced "Somebody Come Get Me". Her debut album The Bridge was released in the summer of 2009. The debut single "Give It to Me Right" was released to radio stations on February 28, 2009, and peaked at number 20 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart and number 41 on the UK Singles Chart. The second single, "It Kills Me , became her breakout song on the Billboard Hot 100 where it cracked the Top 50, along with topping the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song earned Fiona a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. The Bridge also earned her a NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding New Artist. Fiona participated in "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" to benefit after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake. She began touring with Alicia Keys as an opening act on The Freedom Tour in 2010.

Shelly. G born Shelon Unecia Garraway 22nd October 1985, is a feisty young song writer, composer both versatile and creative, lending her voice easily to any rhythm – Soul, R&B, Hip-Hop but her preferred genre lies firmly in the world of Caribbean Reggae, Soca and Dancehall music.

Shelly is number three of four children, and started singing with the popular Talent Exclusive show produced for Television by Mr Dynamix ( Ian Johnson ) in 2004. This program was geared to spot new talents, and she immediately began her music career as one of the leading artiste with Dynamix Recording Studio.
She have traveled the length and breadth of Guyana, delivering some of the more memorable performances that have left an indelible mark in the minds of many, who refer to her as the “Ouch Girl.” She also performed with Bennie Man, Sean Paul, Sherwin Wynchester, Maxi Priest, Allison Hinds, Jah Cure, Gregory Isaacs, Luciano, and other international artiste.

Shelly G is determine to forge a name for herself in the international music arena and one of her goals is to take Guyanese music to the next level.

Timeka born Timeka Marshall Feb 14, 1989 is a Guyanese singer and song writer.
Who would have thought that a simple jingle for a local company would be the start of a music career that seems destined for success? Well that is exactly how young Guyanese singer Timeka Marshall got her break.

In 2006 a local telecommunications company staged a competition for their new jingle. Timeka entered and won. This became the springboard for recording her first R&B Single “We Should Separate”, which was released and quickly followed by a music video. Produced by Muzikmedia and shot on location in Jamaica both the track and the video gained popularity on the Caribbean music scene and held their own in heavy rotation on radio and television stations across the region. Yet there was much more to unearth in the way of Timeka’s talents. After performing “We Should Celebrate” on the Guyanese entertainment circuit to appreciative audiences.

Timeka was keen to cultivate her songwriting talents and attended the Barbados Music seminar and Showcase in February 2007. There she blew regional and international music executives away with her obvious talent and enticing sensuality. With just one performance of the gritty dancehall track “Nothing At All”, Timeka was immediately signed to a developmental deal which would see her working with some of Jamaica’s top producers.

Timeka an intelligent young woman is already acutely aware of how fickle the industry can be, and as such has already landed lucrative endorsement deals. She has been chosen as a spokesperson for the DDL Fritolay brand and in this
role she has visited several schools in Guyana impressing on the students the importance of education and HIV/ AIDS awareness.
She also landed an endorsement deal with eyeware and apparel giant Oakley.

Following on the heels of veteran musician and producer Eddie Grant, Natural Black and First Born’s reggae success Timeka has begun to reposition Guyana as a viable force on the international music scene. And her work is far from over.

Deborah Cox was born on January 7, 1974 in Toronto, Canada to Guyanese parents with strong musical roots. She began singing for TV commercials at age 12, also entering various talent shows with her mother's help. Her 1999 smash hit "Nobody's Supposed to be Here" was the longest-running number one single in the history of Billboard magazine's R&B charts. She got into the music industry as a backup vocalist for Céline Dion, and after signing to Arista Records, released her self-titled debut album in 1994. The album made her a rising star, and set the stage for 1998's One Wish. The first single from that album, "Nobody's Supposed to be Here", spent a record 14 weeks atop the Billboard R&B charts. On February 17, 2004, Cox made her Broadway debut in the Elton John-Tim Rice musical Aida. Her third album, The Morning After, was released in November, 2002.

Leona Lewis was born on April 3, 1985 in the London Borough of Islington , to Aural Josiah "Joe" Lewis, a youth worker from Guyana of Black African descent and Maria Lewis, a British social worker of Welsh , Italian and Irish descent.

She rose to fame as the winner of the third series of The X Factor , and became the first female winner of the show. Lewis has gone on to become a multi-platinum selling artist and three time Grammy Award nominee. Her debut single " A Moment Like This ", went on to become the fastest selling UK single after it was downloaded over 50,000 times within thirty minutes of its release. In November 2008, she set a UK record for the fastest selling download-only release of the Snow Patrol cover of "Run" which sold 69,244 copies in two days. Her second single, "Bleeding Love ", was released worldwide and reached over thirty number one positions in charts around the world and the biggest selling single of 2008.

Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder was born in Georgetown, Guyana to Betsy and Ronald Pounder. She was educated in England and moved to the U.S. in 1970. Pounder made her acting debut in the 1979 film All That Jazz.

Pounder starred in the film Bagdad Café (a role played by Whoopi Goldberg in a short-lived television sitcom). Pounder has made smaller appearances in many other successful films. She has focused primarily on her television career. In the early 1980s, Pounder first appeared in guest roles on Hill Street Blues, and then on several other popular shows (Miami Vice, L.A. Law, The X-Files, and Quantum Leap) before landing a long-running recurring role on ER from 1994 to 1997. She then returned to guest appearances on other shows, including The Practice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Millennium, The West Wing (where she was considered for a lead role) and the short-lived sitcom Women in Prison.

Since 2002, she has starred as Detective Claudette Wyms in the FX Networks police drama The Shield. For this role she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2005. She had previously been nominated for Emmys in 1995 (for guest starring in The X-Files) and in 1997 (for her supporting role on ER). She has also lent her voice to several video games and animated projects, including Aladdin and the King of Thieves, Gargoyles as Desdemona/Coldfire, and most recently Justice League Unlimited as Amanda Waller.

Dawnn Lewis, born on August 13, 1961 in Brooklyn, New York to Guyanese parents. Dawnn is best known for her roles on sitcoms such as "A Different World" and "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper".

She co-wrote the theme song to "A Different World" and appeared for the first five of six seasons as "Jaleesa Vinson-Taylor". Dawnn left the show to appear in "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and performed the theme song for Season 1. Since then, she has appeared in numerous TV series (including Futurama and LaBarbara) sitcoms and has done voice over work.

Sean Patrick Thomas born December 17, 1970 in Wilmington, Delaware is a Guyanese-American actor. Originally went to the University of Virginia to study to be a lawyer. A chance audition for a part in "A Raisin In the Sun" changed his direction. He ultimately got his master's degree in drama from New York University in 1996. Thomas is best known for his roles in films such as Save the Last Dance and the Barbershop films.

Derek Luke was born April 24, 1974. He is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance in the 2002 film Antwone Fisher, directed and produced by Denzel Washington.

Luke was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of pianist Marjorie Dixon and Guyanese native Maurice Luke, a former actor. He has two brothers, Daniel and Maurice. He is a graduate of Linden High School in Linden, NJ.

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