JOHNNY Kemp, the Bahamas singer who was found dead at a Montego Bay beach on Thursday, was among a handful of artistes from those islands to make an international mark.

Kemp, who was 55, is known globally for the dance anthem Just Got Paid which soared up the Billboard Magazine main charts in the summer of 1987.

The song became Kemp’s signature and remains a club anthem throughout the world.

Academy Award-winning actor Sidney Poitier put The Bahamas on the map with starring roles in major Hollywood films.

He set the pace for other entertainers from the ‘islands’. In 1971, a quartet from his hometown of Nassau named The Beginning of the End rocked charts in North America and Europe with the song, Funky Nassau.

Their fusion of island jamming and American funk took Funky Nassau to number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number seven on the publication’s Black Singles chart.

Nineteen years later, the Baha Men, a veteran band from New Providence, hit it big with Who Let the Dogs Out, a cover of Trinidadian Anslem Douglas’ soca song, Doggie.

It was the journeyman band’s finest moment, becoming a hit in American clubs, college campuses and sports arenas.

Who Let the Dogs Out won several awards including a Grammy in 2000 for Best Dance Recording; Billboard Music Awards for World Music Artiste of the Year and World Music Album of the Year.