This page contains Maxi Priest songs, albums and video links. Music profile for Maxi Priest with events, tracks, videos, pictures, lyrics and band information.
Maxi Priest (born Max Alfred Elliott, on 10 June 1960 in Lewisham, London) is an England|English reggae singer and songwriter .
Career
Priest, who is known as the "King of Lovers Rock", is of Jamaican descent and the second youngest of nine children. His parents moved to England from Jamaica to provide more opportunity for their family and he grew up listening to gospel, reggae, Rhythm and blues|R&B, and pop music. His music is sometimes closer to R&B, and pop, than to reggae music itself. His uncle, Jacob Miller, a reggae icon, was the frontman in the popular reggae group Inner Circle and his son, Ryan Elliott, was a member of the boy band Ultimate Kaos.
Priest's musical career began with him singing on the South London reggae soundsystem Saxon Studio International, after which some independent single releases followed. His first major album was the self-titled ''Maxi Priest'' (1988) which, along with his cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World", established him as one of the top British reggae singers.
He is one of only two United Kingdom|British reggae acts, along with UB40 to have a United States|American Billboard magazine|Billboard number one, which he had with "Close to You (Maxi Priest song)|Close to You" in 1990. Also, a duet (music)|duet with Roberta Flack, "Set the Night to Music", reached the American Top Ten in ... read all