Junior Tucker
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Junior began singing at age 5. In 2 years, he became a household name and attained his first #1 song, “Happy”, followed by “One of the Poorest People”, “Which Side of the Coin”, “Some Guys have all the Luck”, and “It’s a Small, Small World”. He began traveling and performing locally and internationally and everyone who saw him knew that being on stage was what he was born to do. He has performed alongside the best of Reggae Music, Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Beres Hammond, Maxi Priest and Inner Circle to name a few.
With great success, he navigated his way through three international recording contracts which have literally taken him across the world. At 12 years, he was signed to Island Records which produced the hit song “One of the Poorest People”. At 14, he landed a recording contract with Geffen Records USA which turned out “Mr. Telephone Man”, later covered by the R&B group New Edition and at 23, he signed to Virgin Records UK which produced hits like “Don’t Test” and “16”.
After his release from Virgin Records in 1991, Junior returned to his roots to pursue a career in Jamaican Dancehall Music, which was beginning to catch the attention of the international music community. A slew of hits ensued, “Love of a Lifetime”, “Move Along”, “Don’t Tough My Baby”, “Lock Me Up” and “Love Somebody among others. Dancehall brought its accolades, number one hit songs, singer of the year titles and a high profile lifestyle. Quickly however life became far from “Happy”. Despite “fortune and fame”, his life was falling apart. It was spent chasing the next hit song in order to stay on top of the charts in order to fill the huge void he felt in his life.
In 1996, the death of his father and the birth of his first child led to a period of searching for answers to fill that void. Being on stage his entire life, he felt there must be more than this. He explored various religions, including Rastafarianism which is so deeply imbedded in Jamaica culture and music. With no concrete answers, he began penning songs like “I Pray” and “Praise His Name”, having no true knowledge of the God he was writing about.
In October 1997, bombarded by religion, a distorted childhood and being plagued by nightmares, Junior cried out “God, if you are real, show me who you REALLY are and allow me to sleep?” The Living God answered; he slept as never before and woke up completely set free and rested. He knew that moment that Jesus Christ was his Lord and Savior. He publicly confessed his Christian faith that week at a gospel concert in Kingston, and was later baptized.
Junior was definitely born to sing, but for God’s Glory! Since confessing his faith, Junior declares, “There is nothing to go back to! It’s about a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ”, who has added clarity, direction and purpose to the singers once hazed life.
