Featured In
ALBUMDub Fi Dub - SingleHorace Andy & Alton Ellis
Albums by Alton Ellis
ALBUMHere I Am - Reggae Got SoulAlton Ellis
ALBUMAlton Ellis Selects Reggae - Continuous MixAlton Ellis
ALBUMLegendAlton Ellis
ALBUMSlummin'Alton Ellis
ALBUMHoney, I Love YouAlton Ellis
ALBUMLive - Workin' On a Groovy ThingAlton Ellis & Aspo
ALBUMMany Moods of Alton EllisAlton Ellis
ALBUMMore Alton EllisAlton Ellis
ALBUMValley of DecisionAlton Ellis
ALBUMAlton & Hortense EllisAlton Ellis & Hortense Ellis
Artist Playlists
Alton Ellis Essentials
Fall in love with the charismatic Godfather of Rocksteady.
Artist Biography
Alton Ellis was a key figure in the development of rocksteady in mid-’60s Jamaica. Born in Kingston in 1938, he started out as an R&B singer, cutting records in duos with his sister Hortense Ellis and with Eddy Parkins. By 1965, he had formed Alton Ellis & The Flames and had started working with legendary producers like Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid. The ska sounds that had been in vogue in Jamaica evolved into the slower, more swinging rocksteady style, and Ellis was at the forefront of the movement. On singles like “Don’t Trouble People,” “Dance Crasher,” and “Girl I’ve Got a Date,” he helped lay down the template for the sound, and his 1967 single “Rock Steady” is widely regarded as the song that gave the genre its name. Ellis moved with the times and eventually evolved into a roots-reggae artist, continuing to work into the 2000s before passing away in 2008 at the age of 70.
Hometown
Genre
Reggae