Raggamuffin 2011 - International Line Up Announced

MEDIA RELEASE – EMBARGO until Thursday 14th October 2010

RAGGAMUFFIN 2011 - INTERNATIONAL LINE UP ANNOUNCED!

MARY J BLIGE

JIMMY CLIFF

MAXI PRIEST

SEAN PAUL

THE ORIGINAL WAILERS

KY-MANI MARLEY

PLUS LOCAL ACTS TO BE ANNOUNCED

Andrew McManus Presents is proud to announce the International line up for the fourth Raggamuffin festival as MARY J BLIGE, JIMMY CLIFF, MAXI PRIEST, SEAN PAUL, THE ORIGINAL WAILERS and KY-MANI MARLEY. The announcement of the New Zealand bands will follow next week.

‘I’m really proud of the 2011 Raggamuffin line up. It’s a superstar bill. It’s our forth year running and the festival continues to grow stronger with around 30,000 people attending the Rotorua concert last year. Raggamuffin is always a hugely enjoyable day and the gift of reggae music is that fans tell us they walk away every year feeling uplifted and inspired’ said promoter Andrew McManus.

Headlining Raggamuffin 2011 and for her very first New Zealand show, is the queen of RnB, American singer, producer, songwriter, actress MARY J BLIGE. Mary J has recorded with names such as Dr Dre, Tricky, Neyo, Ludacris, Usher, Nas, Common, 50 Cent, Bono, Method Man (Wu Tang Clan), R Kelly, Chaka Khan, George Benson and Aretha Franklin, is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, has recorded eight multi-platinum albums (selling over 50 million albums and 15 million singles worldwide) and has received the World Music Legends Award for her success in combining hip hop and soul.

Raggamuffin is pleased to welcome the legendary JIMMY CLIFF. Cliff was among the first stars of Jamaica’s thriving musical culture that brought reggae to the world with songs such as Sitting in Limbo, You Can Get It If You Really Want, Many Rivers to Cross (The Harder They Come soundtrack) and from the film Cool Runnings, Cat Stevens’s Wild World and Johnny Nash's I Can See Clearly Now. He is the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit - the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government - and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 by Wyclef Jean.

Joining Raggamuffin for the second time is one of the most successful reggae fusion acts of all time, MAXI PRIEST. He is one of only two British reggae acts (along with UB40) to have an American Billboard number one (for the track Close to You). He has recorded top 10 duets with both Roberta Flack (Set the Night to Music) and Shaggy (That Girl) and has worked alongside many other artists including Sly & Robbie, Jazzie B, Apache Indian and Shabba Ranks. Following his appearance with UB40 at Raggamuffin 2008 various English newspapers such as the Birmingham Mail on 13 March, reported that Priest would be replacing Ali Campbell as the new lead singer of UB40, and they had recorded a cover of Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff. It has since been confirmed that while Maxi has been collaborating on recorded material he won’t be joining UB40 as their lead singer. Raggamuffin is pleased to have Maxi back for another news-breaking, headline-making show!

The Jamaican dancehall superstar SEAN PAUL first sparked attention in 2002 with his breakout hit, Gimme The Light. Hot on the heels was the multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album Dutty Rock, with platinum smash The Trinity, Top 10 single We Be Burnin and #1 hit Temperature.

With more than 10 million albums worldwide, he has become the most successful Jamaican artist of all time in the US charts. His latest album Imperial Blaze showcases the talents of Jamaica’s hottest young producers and credits amongst others Craig ‘Leftside’ Parkes (son of legendary Jamaican bandleader Lloyd Parkes), Arif Cooper (son of Ibo Cooper from Third World) and Delano of Renaissance Disco. He has a long history of recording hit duets – including the recent remix of Estelle’s Come on Over, Give It Up To Me with Keyshia Cole, Break It Off with Rihanna, Baby Boy with Beyoncé, and Give It to You Girl with Eve - and has also collaborated with the likes of 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes.

Bob Marley & the Wailers together sold more than 400 million albums in the last four decades, and The Wailers helped propel this international success. Three legendary Wailers have reformed to create a new band – THE ORIGINAL WAILERS – who will perform for the first time at Raggamuffin 2011. Keyboard player Earl ‘Wya' Lindo joined The Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in 1973 and has also played with Abyssinians, Dennis Brown, Taj Mahal and many others. Al Anderson joined prior to Natty Dread and has since played guitar with Peter Tosh, James Brown, Traffic, Ben Harper and Lauryn Hill. Bob Marley enrolled singer/guitarist Junior Marvin. His solos on tracks like Waiting In Vain, The Heathen and Jammin have confirmed him as one of reggae’s premier instrumentalists and he went on to play with Ike & Tina Turner, Steve Winwood, Stevie Wonder and Toots & the Maytals. Together Junior, Al and Wya toured and recorded with Marley until his death in 1981. This places them among the rare few torchbearers of his legacy as they continue to spread the message of One Love.

As the second youngest of Bob Marley’s eleven children KY-MANI MARLEY was born in Jamaica and raised in Miami. The seed planted by Bob’s legacy sprouted in 1997 when Ky-mani collaborated with Pras of The Fugees on a cover of Eddy Grant’s Electric Avenue. Songs such as Dear Dad, I Pray, Ghetto Soldier display the versatility, fiery passion and message of peace and unity that define his music. Ky-Mani Marley follows in his father's footsteps continuing the pop-reggae sound for which his family is famous and combining his own style of urban hip hop/reggae fusion.

Don’t miss Raggamuffin 2011. With more reggae, roots, dub, funk, soul, RnB and hip-hop and more good times it just gets better every year!

SATURDAY 5 FEBRUARY (WAITANGI WEEKEND) 2011

ROTORUA INTERNATIONAL STADIUM

TICKETS ON SALE: 9AM TUESDAY 26th OCTOBER

www.ticketmaster.co.nz or 0800-111-999

For show details go to: www.raggamuffin.co.nz, www.ampresents.com;

ENDS

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