Marcia Griffiths Received Order of Jamaica(OJ)

Queen of Reggae – Marcia Griffiths Awarded Order of Jamaica

October 17, 2023

Jamaica has seven national heroes and celebrates their legacy on an annual basis. Enacted on July 18, 1969, the National Honours and Awards Act was established to recognize the outstanding service of Jamaicans with one of the “Orders” of the six Societies of Honour. The honours are as follows:

• The Order of National Hero = Highest Honour.
• The Order of the Nation (ON) = 2^nd Highest Honour.
• The Order of Excellence (OE) = 3^rd Highest Honour.
• The Order of Merit (OM) = 4^th Highest Honour.
• The Order of Jamaica (OJ) = 5^th Highest Honour.
• The Order of Distinction ~ Commander Class (CD) Officer Class (OD) = 6^th Highest Honour.

 The Awards Ceremony salutes each Hero with laying of floral tributes by officials of State and Government at the monuments honoring the seven National Heroes of Jamaica at the National Heroes Park in Kingston. Many Jamaicans were honored on Monday October 16th, National Heroes Day, during the 2023 edition of the Ceremony of Investiture and Presentation of National Honors and Awards at King’s House. One such person is the legendary female vocalist with sixty years of chart topping hits.

Marcia Griffiths, the renowned Queen of Reggae, was awarded the Order of Jamaica (OJ), which is Jamaica’s fifth-highest honor, during the 2023 National Honours and Awards Ceremony held on National Heroes Day, October 16th. She is one of five recipients of this prestigious award. Prior to this recognition, Marcia Griffiths had been awarded the Order of Distinction. The iconic singer began her career in the early 1960s as a teenager, performing in Kingston alongside bands like Byron Lee and The Dragonaires. She worked closely with singer/songwriter Bob Andy, who served as her mentor, and achieved success with hit songs like “Feel like jumping,” “Dreamland”, “Mark my word,” and “Really together” while recording for producer Clement “Coxsonne” Dodd at Studio One label. In the early 1970s, she had a significant hit in the United Kingdom with her rendition of Nina Simone’s “Young, Gifted and Black.” During most of the 1970s, Marcia was a member of The I Three, which was Bob Marley’s harmony trio that also included his wife Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt. After Bob’s passing in 1981, Griffiths achieved considerable success with her signature hit “Electric Boogie,” inspiring the global dance craze the “Electric slide”. She continued her dominance with collaborations from notable artists like Beres Hammond, Buju Banton, Wayne Wonder, Daville and Cutty Ranks.

In addition to Marcia Griffiths, several other notable figures from Jamaica’s entertainment industry were honored during the 2023 Honours and Awards Ceremony. This include legends like Owen Gray, Neville Garrick, Justine Henzell (founder/organizer of the Calabash Literary Festival), Tarrus Riley, Wayne Marshall, playwright/actor Lenford Salmon, and Clive “DJ Kool” Herc, the Jamaica-born sound system maestro often credited as the pioneer of hip-hop. We salute all these distinguish citizens of outstanding distinction.