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Shaggy set to strut with the Symphony at the Shell
From dancehall days to singing with Sting
Shaggy — government name Orville Richard Burrell — hits the stage any way he wants, as befits a man who’s slung discs like griddlecakes and rocked crowds in the five and even six digits. (He played to 700,000 at Woodstock Poland…who knew Poland had its own Woodstock?) He has served up his trademark cocktail of reggae fusion, dancehall, and hip-hop alongside everyone from Sean Paul and Spice to Sly and Robbie and folks you wouldn’t maybe associate with such sounds, such as En Vogue, Cyndi Lauper, Belgian singer Natalia, and even Sting, who stuck around long enough to make a whole collaborative album.
So if the man wants to rock the set in, for example, one screaming yellow top, one pair red Budweiser shorts, and one cornucopia-stylee fishing hat ready for flinging aside in indignation, plus some few heavy pounds of bling...well, nobody sits on either of his wings to tell him no. “Why you sittin’ out there like it’s an opera?!” he demanded of Summerjam 2022. He wanted the crowd to get crazy and, within the confines of a five-figure fun-in-the-sun big-ticket enterprise, they did his bidding.
On August 1, Shaggy steps boldly into the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, for a new venture: getting in tune with the San Diego Symphony. He’ll have to tune all his rants, struts, finagling, and lathering of the crowd to shimmering strings, soaring horns, the booming of tympani, and the churchy clang of tubular bells.
It’s not his first time in San Diego. “My favorite things about the city are the people and weather,” he says. “Great spots for food, especially Jamaican restaurants. I used to perform at the Bob Marley Day Festival which, over the years, became the One Love Festival. The audiences were always lovely and there was always a strong love for Jamaican music and culture. Out of this came many ska-pop reggae bands that we shared the stage with, locally.”
Burrell was born in Kingston in late October 1968, the year the first manned Apollo mission came back to Earth, Lyndon Johnson signed the Gun Control Act, and Russ Meyer’s Vixen! became the first American movie to bear the newfangled X rating. He called Jamaica home until age 18, when he moved to Brooklyn with his mother.
“Seeing Yellowman perform at a venue called Skateland in Kingston made me want to become a musician,” he says, recalling a show by the long-running pioneer of raunchy dancehall. But his new home was a big culture shock. “Jamaica is island living, while New York is a cultural melting pot of Jamaicans, Haitians, Dominicans, Trinidadians, etc. which brings together a lot of different music styles that helped to influence my own music: dancehall, calypso, soca, etc. While in Kingston, it was mainly dancehall and reggae, country, black soul music, ska, and rocksteady.”
He served as a Field Artillery Cannon Crewman in the United States Marine Corps and attained the rank of Lance Corporal (though he took two demotions). In his spare time, he worked on his voice until he had the right timbre for “toasting” over beats, and he left military service ready to conquer.
1993’s “Oh Carolina,” from the Folkes Brothers hit the charts thanks to its use in Silver, the sinister voyeur pic starring Sharon Stone. “Bombastic” from 1995 earned him considerable attention, only for Virgin Records to drop him, thinking he’d already peaked. A new deal with MCA Records proved his old bosses wrong, as those chart hits kept coming. “Angel” was recorded with Rayvon, which wrapped the Steve Miller’s Band’s “The Joker” around Merrilee Rush’s “Angel of the Morning” to produce a decidedly 21st century vow of devotion: a lover “closer than my peeps.”
About matching his act to the Symphony business, he says “I selected the songs that best represented the soundtrack of my musical journey. I interpolate them and tell my story.” Any plans to use an orchestra in the future? “Definitely, would love to. I especially enjoy the creative freedom.”
And over the longer run? “My new album Lottery is on the way for 2026, and of course, touring. Also, preparing for the next One Fine Day Festival, which Sting and I curate, host, and perform at. It’s happening again in Philadelphia on September 6th, and features performances from an eclectic group of artists like O.A.R., The Original Wailers, Big Freedia, Chance Emerson, and Sophie Grey.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Shaggy set to strut with the Symphony at the Shell
From dancehall days to singing with Sting
Shaggy set to strut with the Symphony at the Shell
From dancehall days to singing with Sting
Shaggy — government name Orville Richard Burrell — hits the stage any way he wants, as befits a man who’s slung discs like griddlecakes and rocked crowds in the five and even six digits. (He played to 700,000 at Woodstock Poland…who knew Poland had its own Woodstock?) He has served up his trademark cocktail of reggae fusion, dancehall, and hip-hop alongside everyone from Sean Paul and Spice to Sly and Robbie and folks you wouldn’t maybe associate with such sounds, such as En Vogue, Cyndi Lauper, Belgian singer Natalia, and even Sting, who stuck around long enough to make a whole collaborative album.
So if the man wants to rock the set in, for example, one screaming yellow top, one pair red Budweiser shorts, and one cornucopia-stylee fishing hat ready for flinging aside in indignation, plus some few heavy pounds of bling...well, nobody sits on either of his wings to tell him no. “Why you sittin’ out there like it’s an opera?!” he demanded of Summerjam 2022. He wanted the crowd to get crazy and, within the confines of a five-figure fun-in-the-sun big-ticket enterprise, they did his bidding.
On August 1, Shaggy steps boldly into the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park, for a new venture: getting in tune with the San Diego Symphony. He’ll have to tune all his rants, struts, finagling, and lathering of the crowd to shimmering strings, soaring horns, the booming of tympani, and the churchy clang of tubular bells.
It’s not his first time in San Diego. “My favorite things about the city are the people and weather,” he says. “Great spots for food, especially Jamaican restaurants. I used to perform at the Bob Marley Day Festival which, over the years, became the One Love Festival. The audiences were always lovely and there was always a strong love for Jamaican music and culture. Out of this came many ska-pop reggae bands that we shared the stage with, locally.”
Burrell was born in Kingston in late October 1968, the year the first manned Apollo mission came back to Earth, Lyndon Johnson signed the Gun Control Act, and Russ Meyer’s Vixen! became the first American movie to bear the newfangled X rating. He called Jamaica home until age 18, when he moved to Brooklyn with his mother.
“Seeing Yellowman perform at a venue called Skateland in Kingston made me want to become a musician,” he says, recalling a show by the long-running pioneer of raunchy dancehall. But his new home was a big culture shock. “Jamaica is island living, while New York is a cultural melting pot of Jamaicans, Haitians, Dominicans, Trinidadians, etc. which brings together a lot of different music styles that helped to influence my own music: dancehall, calypso, soca, etc. While in Kingston, it was mainly dancehall and reggae, country, black soul music, ska, and rocksteady.”
He served as a Field Artillery Cannon Crewman in the United States Marine Corps and attained the rank of Lance Corporal (though he took two demotions). In his spare time, he worked on his voice until he had the right timbre for “toasting” over beats, and he left military service ready to conquer.
1993’s “Oh Carolina,” from the Folkes Brothers hit the charts thanks to its use in Silver, the sinister voyeur pic starring Sharon Stone. “Bombastic” from 1995 earned him considerable attention, only for Virgin Records to drop him, thinking he’d already peaked. A new deal with MCA Records proved his old bosses wrong, as those chart hits kept coming. “Angel” was recorded with Rayvon, which wrapped the Steve Miller’s Band’s “The Joker” around Merrilee Rush’s “Angel of the Morning” to produce a decidedly 21st century vow of devotion: a lover “closer than my peeps.”
About matching his act to the Symphony business, he says “I selected the songs that best represented the soundtrack of my musical journey. I interpolate them and tell my story.” Any plans to use an orchestra in the future? “Definitely, would love to. I especially enjoy the creative freedom.”
And over the longer run? “My new album Lottery is on the way for 2026, and of course, touring. Also, preparing for the next One Fine Day Festival, which Sting and I curate, host, and perform at. It’s happening again in Philadelphia on September 6th, and features performances from an eclectic group of artists like O.A.R., The Original Wailers, Big Freedia, Chance Emerson, and Sophie Grey.”
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