Maxi Priest

The second youngest of nine children born to Jamaican immigrants to the UK, Maxi Priest grew up to become one of Britain's most successful reggae acts, specialising in a sweet, lovers rock style of dance music; which even saw him make major inroads into the US. The nephew of reggae great Jacob Miller, Maxi Priest began his career singing with the South London reggae sound system Saxon Studio International, releasing his self-titled debut album in 1988. His cover of the Cat Stevens' song Wild World reached Number 5 in the UK charts the same year, establishing him as a front-line star. In 1990 he broke the American market, hitting Number 1 in the US with Close To You. He had another major US hit the following year duetting with Roberta Flack on Set The Night To Music and in 1996 with Shaggy on That Girl. This led to a long series of high profile collaborations, including Sly & Robbie, Beres Hammond, Jazzie B, Apache Indian and Shurwayne Winchester. In 2007 Maxi Priest also toured with UB40 after Ali Campbell had left the band.

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