Dennis Bovell

Biography

Dennis Bovell MBE (born 22 May 1953) is a Barbados-born reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer, based in the United Kingdom. He was a member of a progressive rock group called Stonehenge, who later changed name and became the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his own name as well as the pseudonym Blackbeard. He is most widely known for his decades-spanning collaborations with Linton Kwesi Johnson.

Born in Saint Peter, Barbados, in 1953, Bovell moved to South London in 1965 and became immersed in Jamaican culture, particularly dub music, setting up his own Jah Sufferer sound system. Running the sound system brought trouble from the police and Bovel...