Beres Hammond

One of the most underappreciated reggae artists of his time, Beres Hammond was something of a throwback during his '90s heyday: a soulful crooner indebted to classic rocksteady and American R&B, one who preferred live instrumentation and wrote much of his own material. His career has spanned decades and evolved constantly since the beginning.

His most recent projects include his album, "One Love, One Life," (2014) which topped the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and was nominated for the 56th Grammy Award. In 2018, his album "Never Ending," debuted at number one on the Billboard Reggae Chart again and was also number one on iTunes Reggae Chart in the US, UK, and Japan, lodging another hit song “My Kinda Girl” among his career standouts. On February 28, 2021, Harmony House and VP Records presented Love From A Distance Live, a streaming event for Hammond’s global fanbase during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. The event, featuring special guest appearances by Buju Banton, Marcia Griffiths, and Popcaan, drew over 120,000 viewers from around the world and resonated as one of the great achievements of his long and storied career.

Hammond specialized in romantic lovers rock, but he also found time to delve into light dancehall, conscious roots reggae, hip-hop fusion, and straight-up contemporary R&B. He was born Hugh Beresford Hammond on August 28, 1955, in Annotto Bay, in the Jamaican province of St. Mary. Hammond grew up listening to his father's collection of American R&B (Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, etc.) and jazz, and also fell in love with native Jamaican music during the ska and rocksteady eras; his primary influence was Alton Ellis, and he also listened to the likes of Peter Tosh, the Heptones, and Ken Boothe.