Orville Richard Burrell (born October 22, 1968 Kingston, Jamaica),
better known by his stage name Shaggy, is a Jamaican-American reggae
singer, best known for his 1995 single "Boombastic" and
2000 single "It Wasn't Me". He has been noted as having
a baritone-range singing voice and is said to have taken his nickname
from his "shaggy" hair and general appearance and later
from the Scooby Doo character Shaggy Rogers. Speaking on This Morning
on August 27, 2008, Burrell states the name Shaggy is specifically
a reference to a previous hairstyle.
At the age of 18, Shaggy's family moved to the Flatbush area of
Brooklyn, New York from Jamaica.[1] In 1987, he took singing courses
in Brooklyn and was discovered a year later, while singing in the
streets with friends.
[edit] Military service
In 1988, he joined the United States Marine Corps as a Field Artillery
Cannon Crewman with 5th Battalion 10th Marines.[1] While enlisted
in the Marines he served during Operation Desert Storm during the
Persian Gulf War. It was during this time that Shaggy perfected his
signature singing voice, breaking the constant monotony of running
and marching cadences with his flair for inflection. It is also where
he got the inspiration for his song "Boombastic."
Upon his return from the Persian Gulf, he decided to pursue his
music career and his first hit in 1993: "Oh Carolina",
was a dancehall re-make of a ska hit by the Folkes Brothers, which
appeared in the film Sliver.[1] The same year, Shaggy appeared on
Kenny Dope's hip hop album "The Unreleased Project". He
worked together with producers such as Sting International, Don One
(who cut his first track), Lloyd 'Spiderman' Campbell and Robert
Livingston. He had further big hits, including "Boombastic" in
1995,[1] the theme tune of a popular Levi's commercial.
[edit] Early 2000s
He then had a major comeback in 2001, with a big hit album which
went diamond. The album featuring worldwide number-one hit singles "It
Wasn't Me" and "Angel", the latter of which was built
around two song samples - Merrilee Rush's 1968 hit "Angel of
the Morning" (which was remade in 1981 by Juice Newton), and
The Steve Miller Band's 1973 hit "The Joker". The album
Hot Shot, from which these songs came, would hit number one on the
Billboard 200 and UK album chart.[1]
However, his 2002 release Lucky Day, and the 2005 album Clothes
Drop failed to match Hot Shot's success, although Lucky Day still
went gold.[1] The albums, however, found success in Europe, especially
with heavy airplay from the single Hey Sexy Lady.
Shaggy remade the Scooby-Doo theme song on the soundtrack entitled "Shaggy,
Where Are You?".
Shaggy recorded the theme for Showtime, a 2002 movie.
[edit] 2005–present
On 11 March 2007, Shaggy performed the official song of the ICC
Cricket World Cup 2007, entitled "The Game of Love and Unity" ,
with Bajan entertainer Rupee and Trinidadian Fay-Ann Lyons at the
opening ceremony at The Greenfield Stadium, Trelawny, Jamaica.
Shaggy left Universal and released his latest album under his own
label, Big Yard Records with distribution by VP Records. On August
2007, he joined Cyndi Lauper in Singapore for the Sonnet Music Festival,
where they performed "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". On
15 October 2007, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction
in the rank of Commander (CD).[2]
In January 2008, Shaggy performed 6 arena concerts with Natalia
and En Vogue in Antwerp during Natalia Meets En Vogue feat Shaggy
in front of 78.000 people. The same year, UEFA chose Shaggy to record
the official anthem for the Mascots (Trix and Flix) of the Euro 2008
football tournament held in Austria and Switzerland. The song was "Feel
the Rush".
In the summer of 2008 he appeared on VH1's, "I Love The New
Millenium". On December 4 that year, Intoxication was nominated
for Best Reggae Album at the 51st Grammy Awards.
Shaggy also performed in the closing ceremony of the 2009 IPL which
was held in May 2009 in South Africa. He also performed in the opening
ceremony of the inaugural Champions League Twenty20 in the same year
held in Bangalore, India.
Also on 8 August 2008 Shaggy performed in Dar es salaam[3] to mark
Zain Global Brand launch in Tanzania The concert was held at the
Leaders Club in the city of Dar es Salaam.
On 23 August 2009 Shaggy performed at Ottawa Reggae Festival in
Ottawa, Canada. There are plans for a new single release in late
2009 with "Fading Away", featuring Kevin Rudolf and Lil
Jon. He will also be releasing "Fly High", featuring Gary
Pine, to be issued on 5 December 2009.
In 2009, Shaggy was invited to perform at the "Festival Creole" held
every year from November 28 to December 6 in Mauritius Island.
Shaggy - Rise Again (with Sean Paul, Sean Kingston, Alison Hinds,
Shontelle Layne, Edwin Yearwood, Destra Garcia, David Rudder, KesDieffenthaller,
Tessanne Chin, Etana & Belo), a song is sponsored by Digicel,
which has become the anthem in Haiti after the tragedy of the earthquake
on Jan. 12.
His collaboration with the Balkan group Sahara (consisting of the
Romanian singer Costi Ionita and the Bulgarian singer Andrea) and
the French House DJ Bob Sinclar on "I Wanna" was released
as a single in January 2010 in Europe, and Shaggy performed live
with them several times during Miami's Winter Music Conference in
March 2010 in support of the song.
In April 2010, He again performed before Cricket Audiences at the
ICC T20 World Championships, also providing between play performances.
On July 17, 2010 in Country Fair Entertainment Park in Medford,
N.Y., Shaggy performed for the PARTY FM'S MEGA JAM 2010 concert.
On July 2010 Shaggy recorded the song "TARGET" with the
Japanese reggae singer lecca which can be heard on her album, "????????."
[edit] Discography
Main article: Shaggy discography
[edit] Albums
* 1993: Pure Pleasure
* 1994: Original Doberman
* 1995: Boombastic US #34, UK #37 (Platinum)
* 1997: Midnite Lover (Platinum)
* 2000: Hot Shot US #1, UK #1 (6x Platinum)
* 2002: Lucky Day US #24 (Gold)
* 2005: Clothes Drop US #144
* 2007: Intoxication
* 2008: Best of Shaggy: The Boombastic Collection UK #22