United Nations honours Marcia Griffiths
|
Basil Walters and Balford Henry
Friday, March 19, 2004
|
 |
| Marcia Griffiths |
The United Nations will bestow its Great Esteem Award on veteran Jamaican singer Marcia Griffiths, at a special ceremony in New York City on Saturday, March 27. Griffiths is being awarded for what the world body says is her outstanding contribution to mankind.
The event will mark an important aspect of Griffiths' celebration of her 40th anniversary in the music business, a celebration which has been named "I Shall Sing. Her Story Unfolds".
"I am truly grateful for this honour from the United Nations, especially coming during the celebration of my 40th anniversary. That makes it really special for me," Griffiths told Splash.
The Woman of Great Esteem Award, a subsidiary of QKingdom Ministries Inc, was established by the Rev Sylveta Hamilton-Gonzales in 1995 to recognise the contributions of women who have excelled beyond normal expectations in a multi-cultural society.
The event brings together women from around the world, usually in March when Women's Month is celebrated, to the United Nations each year to be honoured. The awards are made to women in politics, medicine, religion, science, law, entertainment, education, sports and other fields.
Past honourees include: Minister of Local Government Portia Simpson Miller, former Jamaican-born New York City councilwoman Una Clarke, and Barbados' foreign affairs minister, Billie Miller.
Griffiths as a major part of her 40th year anniversary celebration will undertake a wordwide tour to say thanks to her legion of fans aboard, ending with a historic concert at the National Arena on Saturday, October 16.
The tour will include performances in the United States and Canada and will feature performances with Beres Hammond. In addition to North America, Griffiths is also slated to perform in Europe, Japan and the Caribbean.
The United States leg of the tour starts at the Radio City Music Hall on May 8, and covers both the east and west coasts, before she returns to Jamaica to receive the 2004 International Reggae Day Award.
Griffiths has distinguished herself as the only Jamaican female artiste who has scored hits in every decade since her debut as a teenager in 1964. During her outstanding career, Griffiths has recorded duets with Tony Gregory, Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, Bob Andy, Free I (Jeff Dixon), Freddie McGregor, Cutty Ranks, Tony Rebel, Beenie Man, Buju Banton, Shaggy and Beres Hammond, among others. She has also recorded hits in every genre covering ska, rocksteady, reggae and dancehall.
"I'll be performing my songs according to the decades in which they were recorded, starting in the 1960s with Tony Gregory and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires," the proud matriarch of Jamaican music told Splash.
The songbird, whose 1989 crossover smash Electric Boogie, inspired the Electric Slide dance, said that apart from Bob Marley and Free I (both dead), she will be performing during her anniversary celebrations with every artiste with whom she recorded a duet. This she says is part of her special treat to her many fans at home and aboard.
"Marcia Griffiths' career stands as a brilliant example of what talent combined with hard work and discipline can produce. And she continues to inspire countless artistes and Jamaican women," Andrea Davis, chief executive officer of Jamaica Arts Holding, the company responsible for publicising Griffiths' 40th anniversary programme, said.
|
|
| Related Articles |
| No
related articles were found |
| |
|
|
|
