Best known as Burning Spear, Winston Rodney has been one of reggae's most influential performers. His Rastafarian-minded albums, including Marcus Garvey, Man in the Hills, and Garvey's Ghost, made him an internationally known artist in the 1970s, while his 1985 album, Resistance, earned him his first of eight Grammy nominations. His album, Calling Rastafari, which celebrated his 30th anniversary as a performer, spent eight weeks on the reggae chart compiled by -Billboard and received a Grammy as Best Reggae Album of 1999. The album was included on a list of crucial CD picks by www.reggaesource.com. In a review, the website wrote, "There is no other Winston Rodney. This album is the alpha and omega of reggae CD essentials. Every track is crucial, symbolizing the ultimate and perfect unification of Rastafari and reggae music." A native of St. Ann's, Jamaica, the birthplace of Bob Marley and Marcus Garvey, Rodney made his recording debut in 1969, releasing a single, Door Peep, on the now defunct Studio One. Switching labels in the early '70s, he began to reach out to a global following. Rodney's stage name was taken from African freedom fighter and Kenya's first head of state Jomo Kenyatta, who was respectfully known as Burning Spear. A longtime friend of late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, Rodney was the only reggae artist to be featured on the 1991 tribute album, Deadicated. He subsequently paid homage to Garcia's memory on his 1997 Grammy-nominated album, Appointment With His Majesty. ~ Craig Harris, Rovi