Chris Blackwell
| Chris Blackwell | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell |
| Born |
22 June 1937 Westminster, London, England |
| Genres | Rock, reggae |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer Businessman |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Labels | Island |
Christopher Percy Gordon "Chris" Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to which Blackwell was inducted in 2001, he is "the single person most responsible for turning the world on to reggae music."
Forming Island Records in Jamaica on 22 May 1959 aged 22, Blackwell was amongst the first to record the Jamaican popular music that eventually became known as ska. Returning to Britain in 1962, he sold records from the back of his car to the Jamaican community.
Backed by Stanley Borden from RKO Entertainment, Blackwell's business and reach grew substantially, and he went on to forge the careers of Bob Marley, Grace Jones and U2 amongst many other diverse high-profile acts. He has produced many seminal albums, including Marley's Catch A Fire and Uprising, and The B-52's' self-titled debut album in 1979.
Blackwell was born in Westminster, London. Blackwell's father, Joseph, who was English, was related to the founder of Crosse & Blackwell, purveyors of jarred foods and relishes, and had some residual wealth. He became a Major in the Jamaica Regiment.
Blackwell's mother, the former Blanche Lindo, was born in Costa Rica, and was a Sephardic Jew from a Jamaican family. She belonged to a powerful family who made their fortune in sugar and Appleton Rum toward the end of slavery. They are named as one of the 21 families who controlled Jamaica in the 20th century. Blackwell's parents divorced when he was twelve. Blanche was considered the love of Ian Fleming's later life, becoming the James Bond author's muse and the inspiration for the character Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. She owned several thousand acres of land near Oracabessa, Jamaica, and sold properties to both Fleming and Noël Coward. She was of Sephardic European ancestry.
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