Veteran Dancehall Artiste Purpleman Is Dead

Veteran Jamaican deejay Purpleman, one of the famous trio of albino deejays from the 1980s has died at the age of 58-years-old.  He was a member of producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes’ Volcano Records camp in the 1980s. According to reports, he died August 14 at the Kingston Public Hospital.

His daughter, Caresa Jones, spoke with the Jamaica Observer and revealed that he was admitted to the hospital in late July due to heart-related ailments.

Purpleman, whose real name was Anthony Jones and who was also known as Peter Yellow was born in the Waterhouse District, Kingston, Jamaica. He often called himself Yellowman, and even released an album as him.

While deejaying with King Jammy’s sound system, he performed at many clashes with other systems such as Youth Promotion, Arrows, Killamanjaro and Black Scorpio at the ‘Shock of the Century’ in 1985. He also recorded several songs with other deejays including Yellowman, Sister Nancy, and Papa Tollo.

In 2014 he made a comeback with a new album entitled Home Once More.

He joined the Volcano camp when it was led by Yellowman, a fellow albino artiste. Though he was never as popular as Yellowman, his strongest appeal was in mid-1980s when Lawes and Volcano dominated the dancehall airwaves with hit songs by Yellowman and Barrington Levy.

The 1982 album, The Yellow, The Purple & The Nancy is still a favourite in the United Kingdom. In 2018 and 2019, he did a handful of club dates in southern California.

Just three years ago Purpleman released the album, Dancehall General.