Bio: Shaggy was born Orville Richard Burrell on October 22, 1968. Friends gave him his nickname "Shaggy" from the cartoon "Scooby Doo." Shaggy left Jamaica at the age of 18 to join his mother in Brooklyn, NY, and soon began pursuing a musical career. Two of his early singles "Mampie" and "Big Up," both hard-core Shaggy dancehall tracks, hit #1 on the New York reggae charts. Shaggy joined the U.S. Marines in 1988 after failing to follow up on his early hits and within a few years he found himself in the Iraqi desert fighting in the Gulf War.
Shaggy’s breakthrough recording was a cover of a old Jamaican folk song “Oh Carolina” originally recorded by the Folkes Brothers. The single found itself to the UK on a Greenleaves release and became one of the biggest hit singles in U.K. pop history, and went on to top the charts in nine other countries. A lucrative deal with Virgin Records, (the highest ever at the time for a reggae artist) followed and In 1993 he released his debut album “Pure Pleasure”. 1995’s sophomore CD, Boombastic made Shaggy a household name in the U.S. The platinum-certified album won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, while the title track shattered boundaries at radio, topping Billboard's Reggae, R&B and Rap charts. It also became the #1 selling single and hit #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart.
Midnite Lover failed to repeat the success of Shaggy’s earlier releases despite it’s crossover hit "Piece Of My Heart." Virgin Records dropped Shaggy to concentrate on new signee Beenie Man and Shaggy moved to MCA records for his next CD. Hot Shot featured production work by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis , vocals by his long-time friend Rayvon on "Angel" and Rik Rok on "It Wasn't Me" turned out to be his best selling release to date. The greatest selling Jamaican artist to date has proven that he is no one hit wonder.
Afiwi.com's complete profile on Orville "Shaggy" Burrell
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