The staging of the JaRIA Honor Awards was recently held at the Jamaica Conference Center, Downtown Kingston. Over thirty one awards were given in nineteen categories to musicians artistes, promoters and media for their various contribution to the Jamaican music industry. Among the big winners were Astley “Grub ” Cooper – Lifetime Achievement, Marcia Griffiths, The Melody Makers – Horace Andy – Icon Award, Shaggy – Icon Award, Ras I – Song of the Year and Kabaka Pyramid were some of the top awardees. The event was well attended by a host of industry players and guest. View the photo gallery below.
List of the 2023 JaRIA Honors Awardees
| A LIFE OF DEDICATION TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY | LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT (1) | ASLEY COOPER CD, OD AKA GRUB COOPER | ||
| EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT ON THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | MENTORSHIP (1) | LINCOLN BARRINGTON “SUGAR” MINOTT | ||
| EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | POSTHUMOUS (2) | HORATIOUS “PAT” KELLY | ||
| LINCOLN “STYLE ROTTERDAM” SCOTT | ||||
| EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT ON THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | ENGINEER (2) | REV. DON MC DOWELL | ||
| LEROY “FATMAN” THOMPSON | ||||
| EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | PRODUCER (2) | STEPHEN McGREGOR | ||
| LINVAL THOMPSON | ||||
| EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT ON THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | SOUND SYSTEM (2) | VOLCANO HI-POWER SOUND SYSTEM | ||
| SILVER HAWK SOUND SYSTEM | ||||
| EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | MUSICIAN (INSTRUMENTALIST) (2) | DESMOND “DESI” JONES | ||
| FRANKLYN “BUBBLER” WAUL | ||||
| ICON AWARD | ARTISTE/ MALE (2 ) | HORACE HINDS AKA HORACE ANDY | ||
| ORVILLE RICHARD BURRELL CD aka “SHAGGY” | ||||
| ICON AWARD | ARTISTE/ FEMALE (1 ) | DAWN PENN | ||
| ICON AWARD | DUO/GROUP (1) | THE MELODY MAKERS Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley | ||
| EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | BAND (1) | BYRON LEE & THE DRAGONAIRES | ||
| EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT ON THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | MEDIA (4) | |||
| RADIO & TV | DERMOT HUSSEY OD | |||
| GOSPEL | MARKLAND EDWARDS | |||
| NEW MEDIA | BILLBOARD | |||
| PRINT MEDIA | THE JAMAICA GLEANER | |||
| EXTRAORDINARY IMPACT ON THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | PROMOTER (1) | ROTOTOM SUNSPLASH | ||
| EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE REGGAE INDUSTRY | SONGWRITER (1) | DAVE KELLY | ||
| ICON AWARD | GOSPEL ARTISTE (2) | MINISTER PATRICIA LEVY BENNETT aka Sister Patt | ||
| CALVIN WHILBY AKA PRODIGAL SON | ||||
| GREGORY ISAACS FOUNDATION AWARD | DANCE | GERALD LEVY “BOGLE” | ||
| SONG OF THE YEAR | Ras I | Somewhere Wonderful | ||
| BREAKTHROUGH ARTISTE OF THE YEAR | Valiant | |||
| ALBUM OF THE YEAR | ||||
| GOSPEL | Wayne Stoddart | Freedom Plan | ||
| DANCEHALL | Sean Paul | Scorcha | ||
| REGGAE | Kabaka Pyramid | The Kalling | ||
| SPECIAL CITATION | MARCIA GRIFFITH |
Photos – Steve James
