Born Orville Richard Burrell on 22 October 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica. He was nicknamed Shaggy by his friends after the character in Scooby-Doo. He joined his mother in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York. He soon found a place in the New York reggae scene, playing records for the Crystal sound system. At 19 he joined the Marines, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Shaggy cut singles for a variety of labels, among them 'Man A Me Yard'/'Bullet Proof Baddie' for DonOne, and 'Big Hood'/'Duppy Or Uglyman' for Spiderman. Shaggy sometimes borrowed a friend's car to drive 18 hours on weekends to New York. A chance meeting with Sting, a radio DJ at KISS-FM/WNNK, led to Shaggy's first New York reggae chart number1, 'Mampie' a hilarious homage to overweight women. His next 45, 'Big Up', released on Sting International was his first Dancehall success. When he recorded "Oh Carolina" in a small New York recording studio, he was dressed in uniform. He used the original tune of the mid-'60s early reggae smash "Oh Carolina" (originally done by the Folkes Brothers for Prince Buster) but Shaggy updated the song and added his own "dog-a-muffin" touch to the tune.
At the end of1992, Greensleeves picked up 'Oh Carolina' for UK release, and by Spring 1993 Shaggy had scored a pop chart hit all over Europe with the song, reaching number 1 in the UK and several other countries. Following the success of "Oh Carolina" Robert Livingston became his manager. They eventually released the song in North America, where it also made a strong showing, particularly in Canada. After "Oh Carolina" sold 600,000 in England and a liaison with Maxi Priest for 'One More Chance', Shaggy signed to Virgin Records for a record-breaking 1.2 million British pounds.
His second album "Boombastic" won a Grammy in February 1996 for Best Reggae Album. "Pure Pleasure" followed but "Midnite Lover" was a less strong album. Shaggy had become a world traveller, performing in a endless number of countries. He became the first dancehall artist to perform in South Africa following the abolishment of apartheid, yet with all his success Shaggy has remained down to earth and he prides himself on staying in touch with his fans back in Flatbush. He believes reggae is the only music that has no barriers.
The year 2000 saw a resurgence of Shaggy with the release of the album "Hot Shot". When interviewed for a television show "Caribbean Style" in November 2000, he predicted this album would go double platinum, but it exceeded his expectations with 4 million copies sold. The album reached #1 on the Billboard 200 in 2001. Two of its singles "It Wasn't Me" and "Angel" were in the Top 10 Singles on Billboard at the same time. Shaggy performances included "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", "Saturday Night Live" and appearances on shows like "Politically Incorrect" and "Howard Stern" . As Shaggy self-proclaimed, "I make phat music", so look for more from this star that is so successful at crossing over into mainstream music.
