Abdel Wright

JAMAICA'S fastest rising music star, Abdel Wright, keeps finding himself in the right place at the right time.

After his unorthodox, historical entrée into the world of pop music -- a recording deal with Interscope Records -- recent appearances at the famed House of Blues in Hollywood, California and the Nelson Mandela AIDS Awareness star-studded benefit concert in South Africa on which he was the only Jamaican act, Abdel, still with no releases to his credit, takes another giant leap tonight.

He is set to open for Sting tonight as the legendary group starts another tour of the United States.

"I'll be doing a gig with Sting on Friday (December 12) in St Louis," Abdel, who left the island yesterday for that assignment, told Splash.

His latest break came when he first went to the United States earlier this year on an orientation exercise with Interscope, and met with a number of people connected to Sting's management team. They later heard his album which is scheduled to be released early next year, and the rest as the saying goes, is history.

Abdel will return home after the St Louis show and rejoin Sting when the tour resumes in January 2004.

Relating to Splash his experiences on the recent South African tour Abdel said: "Me being the only act on it that people don't know about, everybody performed, Beyoncé performed before me, Peter Gabrille, the Coards and Brian May(he is a member of the group Queen), you name it, top of the top musicians and entertainers, and me goh deh with an acoustic guitar unknown to a crowd of 40-odd thousand people. It was overwhelming and intimidating, mi ah tell yuh de truth. It was the biggest show I ever performed pon. But mi kick off mi shoe and goh pon stage barefoot, because a Africa and mi want the real earthy feeling.

I was surprised when mi start perform and play mi mouth organ how de people dem scream and clap, trust mi. The crowd was with me the whole time. It was unbelievable. Me carry on Danny Kay, a South African pop singer, as each performer have to introduce the next act. And later I also did a number with Bono from U-2."

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