Eddy Grant

At 76 years old, Eddy Grant has this physical status:

Edmond Montague Grant (born 5 March 1948) is a Guyanese-British singer-songwriter and musician.

He was a founding member of The Equals, one of the United Kingdom's first racially integrated pop groups.

His subsequent solo career included the platinum single "Electric Avenue".

He also pioneered the genre ringbang.

Early life

Grant was born in Plaisance, British Guiana, later moving to Linden. His father, Patrick, was a trumpeter who played in Nello and the Luckies. While he was at school, his parents lived and worked in the United Kingdom, sending back money for his education. In 1960, he emigrated to join his parents in London. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park, where he learned to read and write music. He became a big fan of Chuck Berry, and after seeing him play at the Finsbury Park Astoria decided on a career in music.

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Career

Grant, who played guitar and singing background vocals, established the Equals in 1965, and the band had two hit albums and a minor success with the single "I Get So Excited" before being hit with a number one hit in 1968 with his song "Baby Come Back." When Pato Banton introduced Robin and Ali Campbell of the reggae company UB40, the tune also topped the UK Singles Chart in 1994. In the United Kingdom, the Equals had five more top 40 hits since 1970. "Police on My Back," Grant's album "Comeback" was released on their 1980 album Sandinista! Willie Nile's version of "Police on My Back" appeared on his Streets of New York CD. Grant from their 1968 album Supreme wrote "Green Light" for their 2007 album, Tied & True.

In this period, he performed as a writer and producer for other musicians, including the Pyramids (producing their debut single "Train Tour to Rainbow City") and Prince Buster (for whom he wrote "Rough Rider") and began the Torch Music label, releasing British-made reggae singles.

Grant suffered a heart attack and collapsed lung on January 1, 1971, sparking him to abandon Equals to concentrate on design, building his own Coach House Studios in the grounds of his Stamford Hill home and later on Virgin Records. Feel the Rhythm, the Pioneers' 1976 album, as well as early recordings by Rudy's younger brother Rudy's working under the name of the Mexicano. During this period, he ventured out of music, teaching tap dance, and then trying his hand at performing at the behest of fellow Guyanese immigrant, actor Norman Beaton.

Grant's self-titled solo album, released in 1975, made no impact, nor did the proto-soca Message Man, on which Grant performed all of the instruments himself. He made his debut as a solo artist two years ago with the album Walking on Sunshine, which inspired the UK top 20 hit "Life on the Frontline." He returned to the charts in 1980 with the top ten hit "Do You Feel My Love," the opening track of Can't Get Enough's 1981 album giving him his first appearance in the UK Albums Chart. "Can't Get Enough of You" and "I Love You, Yes I Love You" were two of the album's new hit singles, "I Can't Get Enough of You" and "I Love You, Yes I Love You."

Grant was based in Barbados from 1982 to 2003, the year he opened his Blue Wave Studios, the same year he released his second best solo hits, "I Don't Wanta Dance," which spent three weeks in the United Kingdom as well as internationally, and "Electric Avenue," which hit No. 62. Both the United Kingdom and the United States have two in the United Kingdom and the United States. David Rudder, Mighty Gabby, Tamu Hibbert, and Grynner joined him in producing and promoting local artists, including David Rudder, David Rudder, Make Your Own Fireman, Tamu Hibbert, and Grynner. A lean period followed; his 1984 title song for the film Romancing the Stone was stripped from the film and stalled outside the UK top 50 when it was released as a single, although it did well in the United States and Canada. His albums Going For Broke (1984), Born Tuff (1987), and File Under Rock (1988) failed to chart and produced no more hit singles. Grant appeared in Prince Edward's charity television special The Grand Knockout Tournament (1987).

Grant with the anti-apartheid single "Gimme Hope Jo'anna" dropped to the top of the charts in 1988, a no. In the United Kingdom, 7 people were killed. The South African government had barred the performance. He pursued other business opportunities, including music recording and a nightclub, and he continued to develop his Blue Wave studio, which was used by the Rolling Stones, Sting, Cliff Richard, and Elvis Costello in the late 1980s.

Grant continued to produce albums in the 1990s, including Barefoot Soldier (1990), Paintings of the Soul (1992), Soca Baptism (1993), and Hearts and Diamonds (1999). At the Barbados Crop Over festival in 1994, he introduced ringbang, a new genre. "What Ringbang wants to do is envelope all the rhythms that have evolved from Africa so they become one," Grant said of ringbang. In 2000, he arranged the Ringbang Celebration festival in Tobago. A remix of "Electric Avenue" in 2001 attracted no attention. 5 in the United Kingdom and the attendant of the Greatest Hits album have reached no. In this region, there are three out of every country.

Grant created "Give Me Hope Joanna" in 2004, a yogurt based drink Yop.

Grant's album Reparation was released in 2006.

In 2008, he appeared at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert and also appeared at several venues in the United Kingdom, including the Glastonbury Festival.

Grant would be given a Lifetime Achievement Award from Guyana's government in 2016. The Guyana Post Office Corporation had previously issued a postage stamp containing his image and the Ringbang symbol.

Grant sued former US President Donald Trump and his cabinet over the use of his hit "Electric Avenue" in a 2020 commercial.

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