Yellowman

Live in Peru 2007
Photo by César Daniel

BIOGRAPHY

Winston Foster was born 1956, in Negril, Jamaica. He was born an albino. In Jamaica albinism was a social stigma and albinos were social outcasts.
Winston was abandoned when he was a very young baby.
Winston lived in an orphanage in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the Alpha Boys School. Winston was constantly bullied, taunted and teased. He was called names like "dundus". In Africa and the West Indies "dundus" means "ghost person".

Winston named himself "Yellowman" because of his albinism.
Yellow lyrics combined jokes about his skin color and outlandish tales of his sexual conquests. He transformed himself from a pariah into a sex symbol.
Yellow was a substitute DJ in the Gemini Sound System in 1974.
Yellow was a DJ in the Black South International Discoteque. He was booed on his first stage show. The crowd shouted "dundus come off". Yellow won over the audience.
Yellow was a DJ in the Aces International Sound System (in St. Thomas) in 1979.
Yellow won the 3rd Jamaican Tastee Amateur Talent Contest in 1979. "Before the competition, I went to those same producers at Joe Gibb's [studio], Studio One and Channel One trying to get their attention and have them listen to me, but none of them were interested. Then after I struck gold in the talent contest, they come looking for me, and I didn't have to do the running around anymore."

Yellow added conscious lyrics to his songs.
Yellow performed at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival for the first time in 1982.
Yellow recorded the albums "Mister Yellowman", "Live At Reggae Sunsplash" and "Bad Boy Skanking" in 1982.
Yellow signed a deal with CBS Records and recorded the album "King Yellowman" in 1983. "King Yellowman" was the first international Dancehall album.
Yellow was nominated for the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1984. The other nominees were Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Steel Pulse and Black Uhuru. Black Uhuru won the Grammy.
Peter Tosh criticized Yellow's "slackness" (X-rated lyrics) in 1984. He condemned the single "Shorties" and criticized the song "Mister Chin".
Yellow was diagnosed jaw cancer and was given 6 months to live in 1986. The side of his jawbone was removed. "I just put my faith in God and trusted that he would get me through this. I didn't dwell on the 6 months they told me I had left. Instead I did what I had to do".
Yellow outsold every other reggae artist but Bob Marley.

Yellow recovered from skin cancer.
Yellow's "Message To The World" album was nominated for the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1995.
Yellow's "Freedom Of Speech" album was nomidated for the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1997.

"I know a lot of young people look up to me, and with the changing times, I'm doing things differently. But no one needs to worry, because whenever you hear Yellowman, you can expect a good time, lots of love and lots of yellow."
"I find out that I'm like a popular figure, a leader with a purpose in this world. Haffi show the consciousness of the people. What's going on, you know, when Bob Marley died, reggae was on my shoulder, to finish taking it across. So I do it in a conscious way, you know?"
"It's gonna break through whenever. It takes time, because reggae music is a message music. It's a music that opens people's eyes, if people can get to that. Reggae is already popular, but it needs more listeners."
"I got natural energy, you know, and I got the love of people and my family. I get a lot of courage from people, especially the audience. When you got the love of the people, you don't need nothing else, you know?"