Hopeton Lewis

Hopeton Lewis (3 October 1947 – 4 September 2014) was a pioneering Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer, arranger, and radio presenter. Born in Kingston, he began singing in church and performing from a young age, forming the vocal group The Regals. He made history in 1966 with “Take It Easy,” widely regarded as one of the very first rocksteady records, helping to define a new era in Jamaican music. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Lewis scored several influential hits, including “Cool Collie,” often cited as Jamaica’s first recorded herb song, and “Grooving Out on Life” with Byron Lee & the Dragonaires. He also worked closely with legendary producer Duke Reid as an arranger and backing vocalist, and won the Jamaica Festival Song Contest in 1970 with “Boom Shaka Lacka.” In later years, Lewis shifted much of his focus to gospel music, releasing albums such as This Is Gospel (1996) and Reaching Out to Jesus (2000) on his own Bay City Music label. Living in Brooklyn, New York, he became a respected radio presenter on Grace Deliverance Radio. Hopeton Lewis passed away in 2014, leaving a lasting legacy as a foundational voice in rocksteady and reggae history.