FOR the past eight years, recording artiste and cabaret sensation Gem Myers has been thrilling audiences with her show ‘Gem… with a little help from her friends’. The event returns to the gardens of the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew this Sunday, and the songbird is promising nothing but the best music for her supportive patrons.

“It has been a difficult two years. We were able to pull off a scaled-down version of the show last year but we just can’t wait to touch the stage again and give the people the entertainment they deserve. My show is never about sitting down and watching performances; it’s get up, stand up, clap yuh hands, dance, and really just have a great time. The pandemic has kept us away from those we love so this is an opportunity to come out, see old friends and have a great time,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

Myers, who will be performing all the favourites her fans have come to know and love, will be joined by some of her friends from the entertainment industry including reggae queen Marcia Griffiths, former lead singer for Third World Prilly Hamilton, The Heptones, The Clarendonians and the backing band Fab 5. Sunday’s showcase will also feature a tribute to reggae trio The Mighty Diamonds. Two of this group’s members, Fitzroy “Bunny Diamond” Simpson and Donald “Tabby Diamond” Shaw, died earlier this year.

Myers explained that she counts so many members of the entertainment industry as friends that it is difficult to choose who will make it on the line-up.

“First I come up with a theme, and for this one it was all about some of the greats of the music; the show caters to the more mature audience. And the thing is, we are losing so many of the stalwarts of the business — just look how many we have lost over the past two years. I have to keep it interesting every year. I have plans to do an all-female line-up in the future as well as one featuring the deejays from the 1990s,” she shared.

One special person who always had a presence on the show over the years but who will not be there this year is Myers’ fellow cabaret performer Karen Smith, who died in September last year.

“Karen was always here. Even if she wasn’t on stage she was at the venue making sure everything was OK and just spreading that good vibes that she is known for, and I will miss that. The group PaKaGe [P’Tricia Edwards, Karen Smith and Gem Myers] was formed following the second show. We performed together on that show and it just blossomed into something great. We just clicked, and throughout the years we never had to put out an ad for PaKaGe… one performance just led to another. I will miss her on Sunday,” Myers shared.