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Black Uhuru, formed by Derrick "Duckie" Simpson, is a Jamaican reggae band probably best known for their hits "Shine Eye Gal", "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "Sinsemilla," "Solidarity," and Grammy Winner "What Is Life?". They were the first group to win a Grammy in the reggae category when it was introduced in 1985. They originally formed as 'Black Sounds Uhro'. Uhuru is the Swahili word for freedom.[1]

The first line-up of the group was Garth Dennis, Don Carlos, and Derrick "Duckie" Simpson. The group has undergone several lineup changes: Carlos left, replaced by Michael Rose; then Dennis left to play with The Wailing Souls, and was replaced by Errol Nelson. During this early period, the band's most famous recording is the album entitled Love Crisis, later rereleased as Black Sounds Of Freedom. In 1979 the group was joined by Sandra "Puma" Jones, a social worker from North Carolina, USA. Under this lineup, (Rose, Simpson and Jones), with Sly & Robbie as producers (and also permanently employed on drum and bass), they released the band's most popular albums: Sinsemilla, Red, Chill Out, and the Grammy-winning Anthem^[1], as well as others. During this period, Black Uhuru became one of the most popular reggae groups in the world, regularly touring with the likes of The Police and The Rolling Stones. Live 1984 (a concert at the Rockpalast in Germany, but was actually recorded on October 18, 1981) captures the band at the height of its powers. In 1989, their album Red was ranked #23 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.

After Rose went solo in 1985, Junior Reid joined for a few records and also left; Puma Jones left in 1987 (and died of cancer three years later, in 1990). In 1990, Simpson reunited with Dennis and Carlos in the original line-up of the group. They recorded several albums and toured extensively. By the end of the 90s, Dennis and Carlos left the band and fought a legal battle against Simpson over the name&rights of Black Uhuru. Simpson won the lawsuit and formed yet another incarnation of Black Uhuru with Andrew Bees as lead singer. Only one album, Dynasty, was released before Bees went back to pursue his solo career.

In February 2004, it was announced in the Jamaican press that Simpson and Michael Rose had re-united under the name "Black Uhuru feat. Michael Rose". Together with a female backing singer named Kay Starr, they released a single, "Dollars" and performed at several concerts including "Western Consciousness 2004" on April 28 in Jamaica, of which a live video was released shortly thereafter. A new album has been reported to be in progress.They are also currently Touring Europe 2006.

Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Michael Rose, Errol "Tarzan" Nelson

• 1977 - Love Crisis
• 1981 - Black Sounds of Freedom ("Love Crisis" reedition)

Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Michael Rose, Sandra "Puma" Jones

• 1979 - Showcase
• 1980 - Black Uhuru
• 1980 - Sinsemilia
• 1981 - Red
• 1982 - Chill Out
• 1983 - Guess Who's Coming To Dinner ("Black Uhuru" reedition)
• 1983 - Anthem

Group: Derek Simpson, Delroy "Junior" Reid, Sandra "Puma" Jones

• 1986 - Brutal
• 1987 - Positive (Puma Jones replaced Olafunke)

Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Garth Dennis, Don Carlos

• 1990 - Now
• 1991 - Iron Storm
• 1993 - Mystical truth
• 1994 - Strongg

Group: Derek "Duckie" Simpson, Jenifah Nyah, Andrew Bees

• 1998 - Unification
• 2001 - Dynasty

Live / Dub albums:

• 1982 - Uhuru in Dub
• 1982 - Tear It Up - Live (album and video)
• 1983 - The Dub Factor
• 1986 - Brutal Dub
• 1987 - The Positive Dub
• 1988 - Live
• 1988 - Live In New York City
• 1990 - Now Dub
• 1990 - Love Dub ("Uhuru In Dub" reedition)
• 1992 - Iron Storm Dub
• 1993 - Mystical Truth Dub
• 1994 - Strongg Dubb
• 2000 - Live 1984
• 2001 - In Dub
• 2001 – Dubbin'It Live (summer 2001, at Paléo Festival)

• The group was named by Stan 'Roy Scientist' Palmer whom Duckie referred to in interviews as a 'madman'. Common knowledge among the group's Waterhouse contemporaries is that 'Roy Scientist' wrote most of the lyrics for the 'Anthem' album, including the title track, "Party in Session", "What is Life", and others. He was however, never formally credited but testified to this in a lawsuit that was a part of the fight over the spoils and legacy of Black Uhuru. According to Roy Scientist, the significance of the name goes much deeper than the obvious translation. In the Rasta vernacular, 'black sounds' is both a verb and a noun. To 'black sounds' means 'to speak or utter'. Roy Scientist explains that the mixture of Swahili and English in the name is in recognition of Africans in Africa and in the diaspora, especially Jamaica, the nationality of the group members. This is the first time that so detailed an explanation has been given for the name 'Black Uhuru'.

• Black Uhuru's track "Great Train Robbery" was featured in Rockstar Games videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in the games radio station K-JAH Radio West in October 2004.

• Black Uhuru's tracks "Darkness", "Happiness" and "Guess Who`s coming to dinner" are featured in Scarface: The World is Yours

Ref: Photographs of Junior Reid, Michael Rose, [[Sandra Puma Jones]] are featured in the exhibition Muzik Kinda Sweet by Pogus Caesar OOM Gallery http://www.oomgallery.net

1. ^ The Grammy-award winning album Anthem was actually released in three different versions - the Jamaican mix was released in November 1983, followed by extensively remixed UK and U.S. versions, with different sleeves and different mixes. The dubmaster behind the remix was Paul "Groucho" Smykle, already famed for his groundbreaking work on The Dub Factor. 2004 saw the release of a limited edition 4-CD boxset on the Hip-O-Select label, entitled Complete Anthem Sessions. This set included all three versions plus bonus tracks and a previously unreleased dub companion to the original Jamaican mix.