About Robbie, Part I

Robbie Forbes is a pineapple farmer in Spalding, Clarendon, Jamaica. He is also one of the most soulful singers and songwriters the island has ever produced. Robbie's songs have been recorded by Easy Star recording artist Cas Haley ("Here I Come") and the Heptones (he wrote much of their "On The Road" album). Robbie had a brief moment in the public eye when he won the 1990 Jamaican Song Festival with "Island Festival," and toured Europe. But his other records have gone largely unnoticed.

Like many other brilliant but obscure artists, Robbie's career has been hindered by bad record deals, incompetent and unethical management, and lack of funding and promotion. Through it all, Robbie has continued to write, sing, and play, emerging occasionally from his beloved pineapple trees to wrestle with the music business, then retreating to write some more.

Unfortunately, many of the qualities that make Robbie special have made it more difficult for him to break through to wider acceptance. Robbie is very much his own man. He writes and sings what he feels (the title of one of the songs on his debut album as a part of the group Rainbow) with absolutely no regard for trends. His love of nature and his close ties to his family have kept him from ever moving to Kingston, where reggae careers are made.

A moral and responsible person, Robbie can be very disappointed when others are less so. He is deeply spiritual; Robbie is not particularly interested in material things and is capable of living very simply. (For a while, his home was a tent on the beach in Negril, where he supported himself by singing solo at a cafe and catching fish.) Robbie owns neither a car nor a computer. A humble person, self-promotion does not come naturally to him. But his love for music and his desire to communicate keep pushing him forward.

Welcome!

You've reached the web home of Robbie Forbes, Jamaican reggae singer/songwriter extraordinaire. This site is maintained by his friends, who are trying to help Robbie and his music find the audience they deserve.