31 Facts About Chris Blackwell

1.

Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell was born on 22 June 1937 and is an English former record producer and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels".

2.

Chris Blackwell's label became "a byword for uncompromised artistry and era-shaping acts".

3.

Chris Blackwell has produced many seminal albums, including Marley's Catch A Fire and Uprising, Free's Free and The B-52's' self-titled debut album in 1979.

4.

Chris Blackwell's parents divorced when he was 12 years old.

5.

Chris Blackwell spent his childhood in Jamaica, and was sent to Britain to continue his education at Harrow.

6.

In 1958, Chris Blackwell was sailing off Hellshire Beach when his boat ran aground on a coral reef.

7.

The experience gave Chris Blackwell a spiritual introduction to the Rastafarian lifestyle, and was a key to his connection to the culture and its music.

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8.

Only in his early 20s, Chris Blackwell formed Island Records in 1958 with a start-up investment of $10,000 provided by his parents.

9.

Chris Blackwell returned to England that year and continued to grow his business.

10.

Chris Blackwell began having success with the niche market of Jamaican music, and progressed to bringing in licensed master tapes.

11.

One of these contained a performance by Jamaican singer Millie Small, who Chris Blackwell brought over to England.

12.

Chris Blackwell later recalled his decision to license the release to Fontana, a part of Philips.

13.

Chris Blackwell signed artists in non-English speaking countries such as French singer Charlelie Couture whose album, Poemes rock, was released on Island.

14.

Island and Chris Blackwell himself became renowned for a relaxed, nurturing approach.

15.

Chris Blackwell showed skill in spotting and creating trends, as well as a gift for finding talent.

16.

Chris Blackwell had an imaginative flair for marketing, and Island's releases were often packaged in lovingly designed gatefold sleeves.

17.

In 1968, Chris Blackwell was the first record executive to offer a distribution deal to the newly formed Led Zeppelin.

18.

Chris Blackwell appeared in the 2011 BBC documentary Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals which told the "untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica".

19.

Chris Blackwell's gesture led to the longterm success of both Marley and the label.

20.

Chris Blackwell trusted my instincts, which were that he should go after being a rock star, rather than a star on black American radio.

21.

Chris Blackwell's music was rough and raw and exciting, but all black American music at the time, other than James Brown, was very slick and smooth.

22.

Chris Blackwell formed Mango Records, which featured Jamaican and other artists from the Third World.

23.

In 1977, Chris Blackwell built Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas as a recording home for his acts and other artists.

24.

Chris Blackwell sold his stake in Island in 1989, eventually resigning from the company in 1997.

25.

In 2009, Chris Blackwell was at the centre of celebrations held in London for Island's fiftieth anniversary.

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26.

Each of Chris Blackwell's companies was eventually sold to PolyGram and, in 1998, were part of the Universal Music Group conglomerate, but Chris Blackwell left with a unique reputation for looking after artists as diverse as Bob Marley, U2, Cat Stevens, Grace Jones, Steve Winwood, Melissa Etheridge, Tom Waits, The Cranberries, Richard Thompson and PJ Harvey.

27.

In 2001 Chris Blackwell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and bestowed the Ahmet Ertegun Award.

28.

Chris Blackwell has long-owned Goldeneye in Oracabessa, the previous home of Ian Fleming, where the author wrote all the James Bond books.

29.

Chris Blackwell developed the property into a community of villas and beach cottages, each with its own private access to the sea, and Goldeneye is considered the most exclusive of the Island Outpost resorts.

30.

In 2003, Chris Blackwell launched the Goldeneye Film Festival, which ran for three years.

31.

Chris Blackwell revisited his family's legacy in Jamaica's banana, coconut, and rum export industries in 2009, when, at the age of 72 years, he introduced his own brand of rum, "Chris Blackwell Black Gold", onto the market.