Music industry celebrated at JaRIA Honour Awards

Copeland Forbes being interviewed on the red carpet of the JaRIA Honour Awards on Sunday night was entertaining. The veteran tour manager, booking agent, artiste manager, and author managed to cleverly turn a general question about the music industry into his own mini informative session.

“First of all, I have to thank JaRIA (Jamaica Reggae Industry Association) for giving me my very first award in Jamaica. I received over 150 awards overseas, but none from Jamaica until JaRIA honoured me in 2012,” Forbes said, as he switched gears to speak about his pet project - his book titled Reggae My Life Is.

Forbes, who was the recipient of the JaRIA Lifetime Achievement Award, told The Gleaner that the trophy is proudly displayed in his home in Florida.

“I just do my work, it’s not really about awards. That why I write my book ... and coming here tonight was such an experience. It is my first time at Tuff Gong studio since 2012 when I took the I-Three to Suriname and French Guyana in celebration of Jamaica 50. I heard about the refurbishing project and I must say, the Marley family did a great job,” he shared, adding that he has not been to this side of the city in a while and “when mi see the road a go up inna di air mi start wonder where we was going”.

The black-tie event, which was attended by nominees, awardees and specially invited guests, was held at Tuff Gong International on Marcus Garvey Drive. Co-hosted by Ryan Dixon and Anna Smith, it was a celebration of honourees and People’s Choice nominees.

Chairman of JaRIA, Ewan Simpson, told The Gleaner post-event that he was pleased with how the event unfolded.

“Last night turned out to be a very good celebration of the entertainment industry, where we got a chance to celebrate ourselves ... not just the established members of the industry but the emerging ones,” Simpson said.

He added, “Despite the hiccups which come with productions we had a 90 per cent turnout of our invitees and we were able to be finished by 10 p.m.”

In total, 30 traditional awards were given to industry stalwarts who have contributed across the music spectrum from studios and sound systems to media, education and live events. Three Change-Maker Awards recognised the almost invisible technical hands working behind the scene to keep the studios up and running. The recipients were Martin Mitchell, Courtney Small from Anchor Recording Studio, and NG Chaio from Tuff Gong.

“Yes man, I am honoured to accept this award ... it is always great to be recognised by the persons in your industry,” Mitchell told The Gleaner.

Small, who was accompanied by his daughter and grand-daughter, said that, although he didn’t like the limelight, he made the decision to attend because it was important.

The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient was Lloyd Stanbury, who was not present, while Icon Award went to Hortense Ellis and Maxwell ‘Max Romeo’ Smith (both posthumously) and Mykal Rose.

Several persons and entities were recognised for Extraordinary Contribution, among them, The Jamaicans, which comprised Tommy Cowan, Norris Weir; Martin Williams; Perpetual Sounds of Praise; Katalys Crew; Harry Mudie; RAS Records; Hopeton Lindo and The In Crowd Band; Glen DaCosta; Leroy Sibbles; Wisynco Group Limited

For their Extraordinary Impact, Roland McDermott; Anthony ‘Tom Tom’ Graham, Ronald ‘Uncle Ronnie’ Jarrett; Steve Golding, Joseph ‘Junior’ Lincoln; Mary Isaacs, Kingsley Cooper; Basil Keith Constantine ‘Bagga’ Brown, El Paso Sound System, Code Red Sound System; Norma Brown-Bell, Nigel Wilkinson, Buzz Magazine, World A Reggae Entertainment, Alpha Boys School and Fun in the Son were all recognised.

Nine People’s Choice awards - covering the period January 2024 to July 2026 - were decided by public vote, and the winners were announced during the awards ceremony.

Pre-recorded performances came from Chris Malachi — who, by the end of the evening, had won two major categories, Breakthrough Artiste of the Year and Song of the Year for Brighter Days — D Burnz in tribute to Leroy Sibbles; Kumar in tribute to Max Romeo; Verlando Small and Johnmark Wiggan. They were backed by the JaRIA JamRoc Orchestra, directed by JaRIA Chairman Ewan Simpson.

The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association is a non-government, non-profit umbrella organisation serving the reggae industry and the wider entertainment industry it embodies.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com