Freddie McKay (1947 – 19 November 1986) was a Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n singer, whose career spanned the rocksteady

Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as The Gaylads, The Maytals and The Paragons. The term rocksteady comes from a dance style that was mentioned in the Alton...

 and reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 eras.

Biography

McKay, born in Saint Catherine Parish, Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

, is regarded as one of the most soulful singers to come out of Jamaica. McKay first recorded for producer Prince Buster

Prince Buster

Cecil Bustamente Campbell, O.D. , better known as Prince Buster, and also known by his Muslim name Muhammed Yusef Ali, is a musician from Kingston, Jamaica. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of ska and rocksteady music...

 in 1967, his first hit coming the same year with "Love Is A Treasure", recorded for Duke Reid

Duke Reid

Treasure Isle re-directs here. For the game, see Treasure Isle .Arthur "Duke" Reid, CD was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner....

's Treasure Isle set-up. McKay then enjoyed a fruitful spell with Coxsone Dodd

Coxsone Dodd

Clement Seymour "Sir Coxsone" Dodd, CD was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond...

, recording a number of popular songs for Studio One backed by The Soul Defenders, including "High School Dance", "Sweet You Sour You", and "Picture On The Wall", the latter the title track of his 1971 debut album. A second album, Lonely Man followed in 1974. McKay recorded a duet with Horace Andy

Horace Andy

Horace Andy is a roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", "Angel", "Five Man Army" and a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine"....

 in 1975, "Talking Love" which was also a hit in Jamaica. McKay enjoyed another hit in 1976 with "Dance This Ya Festival", which won the Jamaican Independence Popular Song Contest that year. McKay teamed up with Alvin Ranglin

Alvin Ranglin

Alvin 'GG' Ranglin is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.-Biography:Ranglin started to sing in public in his teens with an Adventist Church background. As a radio and television technician involved in the jukebox industry, he soon acquired his own sound system he named "GG"...

 for the misleadingly titled The Best Of Freddie McKay (it was an album of new recordings) in 1977, McKay now adapting to the prevailing roots reggae

Roots reggae

Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of the artists concerned, including the spiritual side of Rastafari and with the honoring of God, called Jah by rastafarians. It also is identified with the life of the ghetto sufferer, and the rural poor...

 style. The Ossie Hibbert

Ossie Hibbert

Oswald "Ossie" Hibbert is a Jamaican organist, keyboard player and record producer.-Biography:Hibbert began to be active in Jamaican music in the mid-1970s, working as a keyboard player as part of The Professionals, The Aggrovators and The Revolutionaries, and playing on dozens of albums by...

-produced showcase album Creation followed in 1979, and Tribal Inna Yard in 1983.

McKay maintained a faithful following until his death in 1986 from a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

, shortly after finishing his final album, I'm a Free Man.

Albums

• Picture On The Wall (1971, Studio One)
• Lonely Man (1974, Dragon UK
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
  / Dynamic Jamaica) (reissued 1996, Lagoon)
• The Best Of Freddie McKay (1977, GG's)
• Creation (1979, Plant and Joe Gibbs)
• Harsh Words (1982 Gorgon)
• Tribal Inna Yard (1983, Move)
• I'm a Free Man (1988 Uptempo)
• Freddie McKay & Soul Defenders at Studio One (1991, Heartbeat)
• The Right Time Recordings (1997, GG's) (with Jah Stone)
• The Right Time (1999, Rhino)
• When You're Smiling (2002, Rhino) (Lonely Man + bonus tracks)
• Doin' It Right (2003, Charly)