Shaggy, Julian Jones-Griffith Pay Tribute To Hotel Icon ‘Butch’ Stewart
Dancehall megastar Shaggy and artiste manager Julian Jones-Griffith have paid tribute to the legendary Jamaican hotelier, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, the man who once lent them his brand new private jet in 2005 so they could take an emergency flight to Barbados to ‘shell down’ a stage show and fly back home.
Stewart who was the founder of Sandals and Beaches Resorts and owner of The Jamaica Observer newspaper, died yesterday in a United States hospital at the age of 79, after ailing for a short time.
In his tribute, Shaggy hailed Stewart as a Jamaican icon, a legend and an innovator.
“Wow!! Lost for words!! Rest well king!! Condolences to the family. Gordon Butch Stewart was the founder and chairman of Sandals/ Beaches resorts also the founder of ATL/ATL automotive and the Jamaica Observer great loss!” he said.
Jones-Griffith, who is CEO of boutique talent management and music publishing agency, Pop Style Music, in reminiscing on Stewart’s life on his Twitter page, described him as a “veritable larger than life character and visionary”, and a man who “set a generational legacy” and made an indelible mark on Jamaican history.
The music executive who manages the likes of Jada Kingdom and Charly Black then went on to recount the tale of the fateful day in 2005, when Digicel booked Bounty Killer and Shaggy for an emergency performance to replace Busta Rhymes who had copped out at the last minute.
“I only got one Butch Stewart story. One time he lent us his brand new private jet to go to Barbados. I say us but I mean…..Digicel were launching there and Busta Rhymes pulled out last minute so they paid Bounty Killa and Shaggy to replace him. It was quite late so no commercial flights,” he said in recounting the story.
“Bounty, Shaggy, Rik Rok, me, Foota Hype (the 1st time he ever went on a plane) and the pilot shot go Barbados, landed, police escort to the race track, tore it down for 1000s of ppl while the jet waited on the tarmac. Escort back and back home few hours later. On the way back a piece of turbulence lick the jet while Bounty was asleep. Air bumps hit different in PJs and it jerk the Killa right out of his slumber as the plane made a stomach-churning drop. I still have the dents on my forearm where he grabbed it shouting “JULIAAANNNN!!!” he said.
Zip FM radio disc jockey and music producer ZJ Sparks and her fans, also had a field day laughing on her Instagram page where she re-shared Julian’s comments regarding Bounty being frightened out of his slumber.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJqh6GvnYt6/
That still-talked about Barbados show, was part of the subject matter of subject of a 2014 series of articles in The Nation newspaper, which chronicled Barbadian promoter and public relations executive Al Gilkes’ 50 years in the entertainment business.
According to Gilkes, the stellar performance by the Jamaicans resulted in him kick-starting the promotion of Reggae and Dancehall shows on the island including the popular Reggae on the Hill.
“Digicel held its launch show at the Garrison, and Gilkes booked, among other acts, Busta Rhymes, who proved to be unavailable. But longstanding reggae/dancehall promoter Roger “Freddie” Hill came to Gilkes’ rescue by calling his contacts in Jamaica and discovering that Bounty Killa and Shaggy were available,’ the article stated.
“They were sent here via private jet, compliments of Sandals owner Gordon “Butch” Stewart and his friend, Digicel founder Denis O’brien, and they virtually blew away the audience of nearly 30 000 at the Garrison Savannah,” The Nation added.