ROMAN STEWART : REGGAE LEGEND/ICON GONE TOO SOON

Roman was the younger brother of Tinga Stewart, and recorded his first single, "Walking Down The Street" in 1968. He recorded further singles in the early 1970s for producers Derrick Harriott ("Changing Times") and Glen Brown ("Never Too Young"). In 1975 he won the Festival Song Contest with "Hooray Festival", written by Tinga and Willie Lindo, this success leading to the brothers initially being labelled as "festival singers".[3][4] He had a big hit in Jamaica in 1976 with "Hit Song" (aka "Natty Sings Hit Songs"), about the desire to have a hit record in order to escape poverty, the same year in which he relocated to New York. He continued to visit Jamaica and went on to work with Phil Pratt and Linval Thompson, having another big hit in 1979 with "Rice and Peas"

Added 24 Jul 2026