99-y-o Sylvia Browne leads 2026 QORIHC honorees

Sylvia Browne, the 99 year-old matriarch of a musical dynasty, is among 40 honorees for the Queens Of Reggae Island Honorary Ceremony (QORIHC) which takes place on May 31 at Karl Hendrickson Auditorium.

The recipients were recently announced by Laurell Nurse, who founded the event in 2016.

Browne, a music teacher, is the mother of Glen, Dalton, Noel, Cleveland and Danny, who made their names in reggae-dancehall. She taught all of them, but in a 2016 interview with the Jamaica Observer, refused to take credit for their accomplishments.

“I taught them to play the piano and organ, how to sing and harmonise, but they developed by themselves over the years,” she said.

Glen Browne, the eldest of her children, is one of reggae’s premier bass guitarists. He has toured and recorded with Jimmy Cliff, Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers, and Tarrus Riley.

Dalton, a guitarist, was a leading session player and Freddie McGregor’s musical director for many years. He died in 2020.

Cleveland, a drummer, is best known as half of production duo, Steely and Clevie.

Danny, also a guitarist, was a founding member of The Bloodfire Posse and ran the successful Main Street Records during the 1990s.

Noel, a keyboardist, died in 2022.

Nurse has honoured women in entertainment, media, and corporate sectors through the QORIHC. She told the Observer that promoting it annually is a labour of love.

“It is a very significant mission considering the self-funding, but I’m hoping and praying that a sponsor will see the vision and help. It wasn’t intended to be a money thing, it was intended for exactly what the mission is, which is to raise the social morale of women in the entertainment industry of Jamaica,” she said.

Also being honoured are singers Myrna Hague, J C Lodge, Etana, and Tanya Stephens; sociologist Dr Carolyn Cooper; journalists Sherieta Grizzle and Janet Silvera; artiste manager Marcia Simpson and designer Simone Gordon.