British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent Maxi Priest will bring reggae style numbers alive in Colombo for the grand opening ceremony of the 21 day cricketing carnival - Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) on Friday, 10 August.
Born Max Alfred Elliott, popularly known as Maxi Priest hit the high note in the world music stage with his songs ‘Wild World’, ‘Close to You’, ‘Set the Night to Music’ (with Roberta Flack), ‘That Girl’ (with Shaggy) and his latest ‘Watching the World Go By’.
Maxie will be in action at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium with an exciting mix of other international and Indian stars and Sri Lankan music stars.
Soon after his performances in Colombo, Priest will be moving to the vibrant city, Hikkaduwa to perform at the popular night club, ‘Vibration’ on Saturday, 11 August starting at 8.00pm.
The tickets for the Hikka Concert are priced at Rs. 4000.- and Rs. 2500/- per head.
Sri Lanka’s top DJs including DJ Tim, DJ Upul, DJ Sajjid, DJ Beat Hunter, Elephant Foot drummers of Hikkaduwa, tribal drummers - Janaka and Friends, international female fire dancers from UK are billed to perform at this mega reggae extravaganza.
Maxie is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion, and became one of the first international successes who regularly dabbled in the genre as well as being one of the most successful reggae fusion acts of all-time.
Priest's musical career began with him singing on the South London reggae sound system Saxon Studio International, after which some independent single releases followed. His first major album was the self-titled Maxi Priest (1988) which, along with his cover of Cat Stevens' ‘Wild World’, established him as one of the top British reggae singers.
He is one of only two British reggae acts (along with UB40) to have an American Billboard number one: ‘Close to You’ in 1990. A duet with Roberta Flack, ‘Set the Night to Music’, reached the American Top Ten in 1991. His duet with Shaggy in 1996, ‘That Girl’’ was also a hit in the US, peaking at number twenty.
In the latter half of his recording career, Priest has favoured working alongside other artists, both established and up-and-coming. He has worked with Sly & Robbie, Shaggy, Beres Hammond, Jazzie B, Apache Indian, Roberta Flack, Shurwayne Winchester, Shabba Ranks and Lee Ritenour.
His latest double album ‘Maximum Collection’ contains 36 songs including all hits from 80's, 90's, ‘Make It Yours’ (ft. Shurwayne Winchester); ‘Rough Diamond’ (ft. Gappy Ranks); ‘Fever’ (ft. Dennis Brown & Shabba Ranks) and brand new single ‘Nothing But Trouble’ from up coming new album ‘Nothing But Trouble’.
Official print media partners of the event - Daily Mirror and The Sunday Times.
Text compiled by Sanath Weerasuriya
AWAIT exclusive interview with Maxi Priest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4ZWD_0VRK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cafLLCvfZpY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G4zRwcmY9o
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