Sharon Forrester

Born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1956, Sharon Forrester was raised in a musical family and began singing at an early age, performing in church choirs from the age of six. After entertaining tourists on Jamaica’s north coast, she gained wider exposure through a television appearance with Richard Ace, which led to her introduction to producer Geoffrey Chung. Forrester achieved early success in 1973 with the single “Silly Wasn’t I,” produced by Chung and backed by his Now Generation Band. That same year, she performed alongside The Wailers at the Ethiopian Benefit Concert. Chung also produced her debut album, Sharon, which was largely recorded in the United Kingdom in 1974 due to a musicians’ strike in Jamaica. While in the UK, Forrester appeared in the British Film Institute production Moon Over the Alley alongside Danny Ray. In the autumn of 1974, she participated in the Jamaica Showcase international tour with artists such as Dennis Brown, The Maytals, and Cynthia Richards. She also appeared on the UK television program Aquarius, where she performed a rendition of George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun.” For much of the following two decades, Forrester recorded only intermittently and worked occasionally as a backing vocalist. She made a notable return in 1994 with the single “Love Inside,” which reached the UK Top 50, followed by the album This Time in 1996. Since then, she has contributed guest and backing vocals on recordings by artists including Alpha Blondy, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff, The Heptones, and Yami Bolo.