Kingston, 4 April 2022 - The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has congratulated United States-based Reggae band, Soldier of Jah Army (SOJA), on their winning the Grammy Award for ‘Best Reggae Album’.

The Award, presented at the 64th Annual Grammy awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, went to SOJA for their seventh studio album, ‘Beauty in the Silence’.

Minister Grange said:
“I want to congratulate SOJA on their award. This speaks to the universality of Reggae music and its worldwide reach. I recall in 2018 in Mauritius, when UNESCO inscribed Reggae Music, some of the most impassioned and stirring speeches about Reggae came from far-flung countries such as China, Japan, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Poland and Cameroon. Our music has touched and influenced the lives of people all around the world.”

The Minister also paid tribute to the Jamaican artistes who were nominated for the Reggae Grammy. “I want to especially recognise, Spice, for her album ‘10’ and Etana, for ‘Pajoma’. This is the first time in the 36 years of the Awards that two women were nominated in the Category and it is something that we must also celebrate. I wish also to congratulate Sean Paul for ‘Live N Livin’, Jesse Royal for ‘Royal’, and Gramps Morgan for ‘Positive Vibration’.”

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Kingston, 2 March 2021 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has released the following statement at the passing of Bunny Wailer.

Minister’s Statement:

“At the request of the family, I announce with deepest sadness, the passing of the patriarch, brother, friend and Jamaican music icon, the great Bunny Wailer.

Bunny Wailer, whose given name is Neville O’Riley Livingstone, passed away at 9am today at Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston. He had been in hospital since December 2020.

We mourn the passing of this outstanding singer, songwriter and percussionist and celebrate his life and many accomplishments.

We remain grateful for the role that Bunny Wailer played in the development and popularity of Reggae music across the world.

We remember with great pride how Bunny, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, took Reggae music to the four corners of the earth.

Today, the last surviving Wailer has passed.

His son Abijah said to me this morning that ‘Bunny Wailer cannot die, he has transitioned’.

What Bunny Wailer has done for Reggae, as one of the pioneers and standard-bearers of our country’s music, lives on.

Let us hold dear Bunny’s music, his memory and his family.

I ask that you remember his family, including his wider Reggae family, in your prayers at this time.”

Bunny Wailer was awarded Jamaica’s fourth highest honour, the Order of the Merit in 2017.

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Kingston, 5 February 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, wants the presentation of the award for Best Reggae Album to become part of the main show at the Grammy Awards.

The winner of the Reggae Grammy is usually announced before the live annual broadcast of the Grammy Awards, but Minister Grange says it’s time for a change.

Minister Grange said:

“One of the things that I am going to work very hard to achieve is to get the Reggae category carried live on the Grammys. Reggae is featured in the main show many times, but it’s not treated as a category that is carried live. There are many other genres that are treated that way as well, so it’s going to be a tough fight, but nothing is impossible.”

Minister Grange said it will require the support of stakeholders to bring about the change. She said a similar effort, several years ago, resulted in the creation of the Reggae Grammy.

“It was a journey to even get Reggae as a category in the Grammys years ago, but we achieved it. This is now the next stage. We’re going to step it up.”

Minister Grange was speaking as she welcomed home Koffee — the 2020 winner of the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album — on Monday at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.

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Kingston, 3 February 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has welcomed home the Jamaican Grammy-winning artiste, Koffee.

Minister Grange met the artiste at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on Monday (today). It was the singer’s first time returning to Jamaica since winning the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in Los Angeles, California on 26 January 2020.

Minister Grange said:
“I’m really very happy to welcome Koffee home after she made history as the first female solo Reggae artiste to win the Grammy. I’m as excited as when I was Shabba Ranks’ manager and we won the Grammy. I feel so good about Koffee’s success.”

The Minister described it as a blessing to be celebrating Koffee’s success during Reggae Month.

Minister Grange said she was delighted that her Ministry provided a platform to showcase Koffee’s talent. In December 2017, Minister Grange selected Koffee — who was 17 at the time — to perform at the unveiling ceremony for the statue of the Jamaican track legend, Usain Bolt, at the National Stadium.

“She performed for Usain Bolt and, for the first time, had major exposure at the national level [and] the rest is history. She has just moved from success to success and what is so beautiful about her — she’s young, she’s bright, and she’s humble,” said Minister Grange.

Koffee also paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister, the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, at Jamaica House.

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Kingston, 26 January 2020 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has congratulated the Jamaican singer, Koffee, on winning the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album this evening in Los Angeles, California.

Minister Grange said:

“Koffee is an outstanding Ambassador of the Reggae music of Jamaica, despite her young age, and is thoroughly deserving of the Reggae Grammy for her well produced album, Rapture.

Koffee’s achievement is inspiration for us all, especially emerging artistes and women artistes who continue to beat against the glass ceiling as they build lasting careers.

On behalf of the entire Jamaica, I send our warmest congratulations to Koffee — an outstanding, gifted, talented daughter of the soil, and proud product of Central St Catherine.”

Minister Grange has also congratulated Julian Marley, Sly & Robbie & Roots Radics, Steel Pulse and Third World who were nominated for the Reggae Grammy.

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Paris, 20 November 2019 – The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has congratulated the nominees for the Reggae Grammy.

The nominees for Best Reggae Album were announced today (Wednesday, 20 November 2019) and includes:

RAPTURE (Koffee);
AS I AM (Julian Marley);
THE FINAL BATTLE: SLY & ROBBIE VS. ROOTS RADICS (Sly & Robbie & Roots Radics);
MASS MANIPULATION (Steel Pulse);
MORE WORK TO BE DONE (Third World)

Minister Grange said the nominees represented “some of the biggest names in Reggae music” and thanked them for "bringing Jamaica’s music to all the peoples of the world.”

The Reggae Grammy will be awarded in January, 2020.

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The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange has congratulated Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley on winning the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.