SINGERS SALUTE - Sanchez, Derrick Morgan to receive Independence Day honours

Culture Minister Olivia Grange, has announced that Jamaican music stalwarts Derrick Morgan and Kevin 'Sanchez' Jackson will be honoured at the Grand Gala on Independence Day, August 6, at the National Stadium.

They will be presented with the ministry's Music Icon Award for their sterling contribution to the popularity of Jamaican music on the world stage.

"As a nation, it is important that we celebrate the achievements of our troubadours who have worked tirelessly to help put Jamaica on the world map," said Grange. "Derrick is one of the elite group of artistes who has dominated from the eras of ska and rocksteady, and continues to make an impact to this day. We must always remember that, in 1962, Derrick gave us Forward March, a song which celebrates a significant milestone in our history, Jamaica's independence from Britain."

Of Sanchez, Grange said "Sanchez has a voice that is incomparable. He has remained on top of his game internationally and it is not surprising that he has excelled in both the secular and the gospel arenas. We are extremely pleased to honour them as we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee."

The presentation of the Music Icon Award has become one of the highly anticipated features of the annual Grand Gala. Morgan and Sanchez will join an impressive list of recipients that includes Jimmy Cliff, Marcia Griffiths, Freddie McGregor, Strangejah Cole, Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley, Toots Hibbert and Richie Stephens.

Morgan has enjoyed a storied career which has seen him being the only artiste to ever fill the slots from one to seven on the Jamaican pop chart. Among those hits were Don't Call Me Daddy, In My Heart, Be Still and Meekly Wait and Murmur Not. He has also written several songs that have won the Jamaica Festival Song Competition for other artistes, including Jamaica Whoa, Fi Wi Island A Boom and Progress.

From an early age, Sanchez sang on both the junior and senior choirs of the Rehoboth Apostolic Church in St Catherine. However, the former choir leader met new friends in high school and soon became a selector for the Rambo Sound system on which many of his close deejay colleagues also worked. By 1988, he was one of Jamaica's most popular singers, and at his performance at Reggae Sunsplash that year, he was called back for six encores. Sanchez has worked with several of Jamaica's top producers and has built an extensive discography of both secular and gospel favourites. His version of the gospel favourite Amazing Grace is a dancehall classic.

The global celebration of Jamaica 60, the Diamond Jubilee, is under the theme 'Re-igniting a Nation for Greatness'.