John Holt

Jamaican singing sensation JOHN HOLT has announced a special one-off show in London this summer with THE REGGAE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA and full band.

The full line-up for the Respect Jamaica 50 Festival in London - celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence from the UK - can now be revealed.

North Greenwich’s IndigO2 venue will play host to the 12-day event with some of the most iconic reggae artists appearing together on stage.

The confirmed line-up is as follows:

Jamaican singer JOHN HOLT, backed by the DUB ASANTE BAND, performed last night (11 February) at the Malcolm X Centre in St Pauls, Bristol.

Watch fan-filmed video footage below of his show including songs "I'd Love You To Want Me" and "The Tide Is High".

"I'd Love You To Want Me" 

"The Tide Is High"

ReggaeChapter.com has taken a look at the top reggae and dancehall Valentine parties that are happening across the UK later this month. 

Valentine's Day is straddled between two weekends this year, so the following list includes shows taking place over nine days in mid-February.

JOHN HOLT, one of the forerunners of lovers rock, is expected to perform at half of the featured shows.

In date order, they are:

The Guardian and The Voice newspapers have carried out Q&As with two of Jamaica’s greatest musicians: LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY and JOHN HOLT.

In the Guardian piece dub legend LEE PERRY provides “words of wisdom on dubstep, getting fit in his 70s, and modifying the Lord's prayer”.

Jamaican reggae legends JOHN HOLT and FREDDIE MCGREGOR have lined up a 'Valentine Celebration' at the O2 Academy Brixton next month.

Legendary reggae singer JOHN HOLT has lined up two big shows in Bristol and Cardiff early on in the New Year.

To celebrate nearly 40 years since the release of his biggest selling album 1000 Volts Of Holt, the former PARAGONS lead singer will be performing the record in its entirety at the shows.

The ‘1000 Volts Of Holt Tour 2012’ takes in Cardiff University Students’ Union in Wales and then on to the Malcolm X Centre in St Pauls, Bristol.

The full details for the gigs are as follows:

King Spinna - a brand new reggae label founded by Bob Harding and Dom Sotgiu, formerly of Blood and Fire - has launched with a vinyl-only set of dub rarities from KING TUBBY's studio.

Check out below some listening samples of the new release Dub Will Change Your Mind by BUNNY LEE & THE AGGROVATORS. 

The fifth instalment of DAVID RODIGAN’s summer reggae show on the BBC is now available to listen to and download.

This week the British DJ re-visits BUNNY WAILER's debut solo album, Blackheart Man, released back in 1976.

Other featured tracks include JOHN HOLT's “Help Me Make It Through the Night” - a track which put him in the British charts in 1974 - and SUGAR MINOTT’s “Good Thing Going”.

US rapper BUSTA RHYMES and rising dancehall artist GYPTIAN stole the show at the One Love Peace Festival at Wembley Arena on Sunday.

Both artists managed to whip the 12,000-stong crowd into a frenzy amid deafening whistle-blowing and screams.

Other standout performances from the day came from ETANA, Sir JOHN HOLT and SEAN PAUL who all drew in large crowds and didn’t suffer the same arena acoustic problems that other bands experienced throughout the day.

International reggae artists SHAGGY, SEAN PAUL, GYPTIAN, THE ABYSSINIANS and ETANA have hit UK soil ahead of the One Love Peace Festival at Wembley Arena tomorrow.

SHAGGY was on ITV breakfast show Daybreak this week to talk about his performance at the event. You can check it out here.

The third instalment of DAVID RODIGAN’s new ten-part reggae series for BBC Radio 2 is now available.

This week the British DJ plays lovers rock anthem “Silly Games” by JANET KAY, alongside 1960s Jamaican beach music from JOHN HOLT and THE PARAGONS, as well as roots-rock-reggae anthems by BURNING SPEAR and DENNIS BROWN.

Here’s the full playlist: