In September 1966, around the same time the first rocksteady song was recorded, impresario Vere Johns died in Kingston at age 72.

A journalist and former member of the British military who served in World War I, Johns can be considered the father of rocksteady.

It was his Opportunity Hour and Opportunity Knocks talent contests that exposed the genre’s biggest artistes, including Alton Ellis, John Holt, Desmond Dekker, The Wailers, Bob Andy, and Dobby Dobson.

Joe Higgs, Jimmy Cliff, Jackie Edwards, Derrick Morgan, The Blues Busters, Millie Small, as well as Bunny and Skully also got their start on those shows which started in the 1950s.

But, as the 60th anniversary of rocksteady is celebrated in 2026, Vere Johns remains largely forgotten.

The man who funded Opportunity Hour and Opportunity Knocks has never received a national award in Jamaica. Audley Rollen, who competed in Johns’ contests in 1958 and 1959, believes it is time he gets his due.

“I would like to see the Government of Jamaica and the entertainment industry in Jamaica give Vere Johns his long-overdue and well-earned OD [Order of Distinction], or the highest merit anyone in the entertainment industry could ever get,” Rollen told the Jamaica Observer. “Let’s face it, the godfather of reggae Joe Higgs was discovered on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour and it was Joe Higgs who tutored Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff.”

The Manchester-born Johns’ contribution to Jamaican music has not been totally ignored. In 2008, he was posthumously inducted into the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA) Hall of Fame.

Opportunity Hour and Opportunity Knocks were held at popular Kingston venues such as the Ambassador, Carib, Majestic, and Palace theatres.

Johns promoted the shows while working as a journalist at what was then The Daily Gleaner. His shows had similar social impact as the Ed Sullivan and American Bandstand shows in the United States.