Freddie McGregor

Jamaican singer born in Clarendon, Jamaica on June 27, 1956. At age seven, he started singing backup for a local ska harmony duo called The Clarendonians and did his first recordings aged 10 years with the name "Little Freddie or "Young Freddie", and as a duo with Ernest Wilson aka "Freddie & Fitsy". McGregor stayed at Studio One for much of the '70s. He sang lead for groups like Generation Gap and Soul Syndicate, and also recorded off and on as a solo act during the '70s. In 1975, McGregor converted to Rastafarianism. Still with Studio One and working with Earl "Chinna" Smith, he recorded several classic songs. In 1980, he recorded the great "Bobby Babylon" LP for Studio One that became a classic Roots Reggae album. In 1981, McGregor scored a huge hit single with "Big Ship," which catapulted him to the front rank of reggae stars in the immediate post-Marley era, along with Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs. Father of Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, Daniel McGregor and Yeshemabeth McGregor. Runs Big Ship.