He sang his way into the hearts of J’cans
DALTON HARRIS has become a household name across Jamaica in the past two months. His voice wooed the judges on the British talent competition The X Factor last year, and Jamaicans far and wide cheered him all the way to victory, basking in the success of another ‘yaad man’.
That success has earned Harris the 2018 RJRGLEANER Special Honour Award for his efforts, which took Jamaica’s culture, once again, to the international stage in his successful campaign to become the first Jamaican to win a United Kingdom reality-TV series.
But many Jamaicans were not aware that this was not his first time as the winner of a talent competition.
Born and raised in very humble beginnings in Clarendon, Harris discovered his love for music and singing at 12 years old while he was a student at Sanguinetti Primary School, where he entered a Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) competition and won an award.
While he was a student at the Edwin Allen High School, he also entered and won in the festival competition, and from then, the young man was confident that his talent would be his tool to escape the hardships he faced growing up.
Harris first hit the national stage when he was selected to be a contestant in the 2010 ‘Digicel Rising Stars’ competition.
For his first performance on the show, he delivered his version of 2007 winner Romain Virgo’s hit song Wanna Go Home (Rain Is Falling). His vocal range and stagecraft impressed the judges, including the feared Anthony ‘Killer’ Miller, who is not one easily impressed.
Confident that he could win the competition, he gave the audience and judges stellar performances each week and campaigned hard to get votes. He quickly emerged the favourite and rode that wave to the title to become the youngest ‘Digicel Rising Star’ at only 16 years old.
A grand prize of $1.5 million might have seemed the stuff dreams are made of, but Harris quickly found that dreams can be nightmares as he was soon back facing hardships, forcing him to drop out of school while in grade 10.
His living situation also changed drastically as he had no option but to live in a house with no running water and no electricity in a move that some have described as a ‘rags to riches to rags’ story.
But the silver lining behind his dark cloud would come in 2011 in the form of music producer Donovan Germain, who he has repeatedly described as the man who “saved his life”.
The Penthouse Records boss moved Harris into the Corporate Area and got him enrolled at Kingston College, where he successfully sat six CSEC subjects. He praised the teachers at
KC for being consistent with their teaching, for listening, and for the interactive lessons that they offered.
Through that period, Germain encouraged him to remain focused on his education and emphasised that having a talent would be of no use if he was not able to represent his brand. Germain also ensured that education was Harris’ main focus, and he was not allowed to set foot in a studio while school was in session. With his association with Germain and Penthouse Records, Harris managed to produce three albums and in 2014 topped Jamaica dancehall charts with the soundtrack Pauper. He later migrated to the United States to widen his scope in music. There, he released several tracks, including I’m Numb, Watch Over Me, and That Wonderful Sound. In 2018, he released the joint album Unintentional Astronaut with Mike Needler. That was also the year when he exploded on the international stage following a successful audition in season 15 of The X Factor.
For his audition, Harris performed the Elton John track Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word and had the judges eating from his hands as he wooed them with his talent.
All four judges agreed that he deserved to be a contestant, and he competed in the ‘Boys’ category while being coached by Louis Tomlinson. Harris sailed through the rounds with songs like Purple Rain by Prince and Listen by Beyoncé, with the deafening whistles and screams after each performance marking him as one of the early favourites.
He provided an early Christmas present for all Jamaicans on December 1 when he walked away as the winner with total prize money valued at £1 million and a record deal with Syco Music in association with Sony Music. His hectic schedule made Harris unavailable for an interview last week, but Germain said he would be surprised at receiving an RJRGLEANER Honour Award. “An award from the RJRGLEANER Group is something that would be the furthest thing from his mind. He’ll be surprised, but he’ll be honoured to receive it because he has put in the work and made Jamaica proud,” said Germain.
The famed producer said the award proves a notion he has practised with success and one Dalton epitomises. “Adults must give young people opportunities, and young people can chase their dreams and achieve it.”