Kingston will honour one of reggae’s greatest songwriters tonight. Family, friends and fans gather at Kingston Night Market on Tuesday, October 27 for Celebrating The Lyrical Genius of Bob Andy on his 82nd Earthstrong, as reported by Reggae Vibes from reporting by Yasmine Peru in the Jamaica Gleaner.

Night Market is the weekly Tuesday night space on Hillcrest Avenue in St Andrew where art and crafts, music and food meet in a festive and wholesome atmosphere, as reported by Reggae Vibes.

A tribute a year in the making

In 2025, Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on the very day of Bob Andy’s birthday. The island shutdown wiped out the club night celebration his son, Godfrey Bobby Anderson, had planned, as reported by Reggae Vibes.

Bobby’s determination to honour his father’s legacy is behind tonight’s event. Last year the tribute was earmarked for Singer J’s platform, Rub-A-Dub Tuesdays. This year it lands at Night Market, with the family still leading it.

Who performs tonight

Live performances will come from Fred Locks, Deh Deh Blacks of Heptones fame, Empress Chai, and Singer J, who is Bob Andy’s nephew, as reported by Reggae Vibes.

The special guest selector is pioneering deejay and sound system selector Welton Irie. Bobby Anderson explained that Welton Irie is very knowledgeable and goes way back with the music, and that he needed an elder who knows his father’s full catalogue as singer and songwriter to do this tribute, as reported by Reggae Vibes.

Why Bob Andy matters

Bob Andy is recognised as one of reggae’s greatest and most influential songwriters. His work began in the Sixties and continued until shortly before his passing in 2020, and his songs have been covered by dozens of Jamaican and international artists, as reported by Reggae Vibes.

Bobby Anderson recalled that his father released songs in England in the mid 1970s that did extremely well there but were not played a lot in Jamaica, and that Bob Andy had songs doing well in Brazil that he did not know about until he performed there, as reported by Reggae Vibes.

That is the education job tonight is doing: teaching younger fans how far one Jamaican songwriter’s pen travelled, and giving the elders a night to hear it sung back properly.

Fans React

For the audience that grew up on his writing, tonight is a salute as much as a show. For younger listeners, it is an introduction to a catalogue that shaped singers who came after him.

Nation salutes Bob Andy on his 82nd earthstrong. The songs are still travelling.

Photo credit: Bob Andy performing, via DancehallMag.