(Leon) Delroy Williams was born on a farm in Jamaica, and by the age of nine he went to England with his parents. Delroy Williams was already fixated with music and in the 1960s; he began singing and dancing his way into a local soul band. In the late 60’s he signed with Mecca agency which helped to further advance his musical education. He was recognized as an up and coming talent by Commercial Entertainment, and performed for the RAF and US military bases, colleges and clubs throughout the UK. |He broadened his experiences by signing with the Mecca agency which got him gigs around Europe at the end of the 1960s. In 1966, he created the first ever open-air reggae festival in London’s Brockwell Park when he was still just a teenager. The festival survived until 1971. The idea was so popular that it was picked up The Rolling Stones who started it in Hyde Park where it was considered a live music breakthrough. |In 1968, he cut his first debut album with Bell Records and went on to record his wildly popular Reggae renditions of Ben E. King’s R&B hit, “Don’t Play That Song”, and Billy Royal’s hit, “Down In The Boondocks.” Each record was issued on Trojan Records. As the years have passed, Williams remained one of the most popular Reggae and Soul artists around the UK and Europe music scene. He continued to create more successful albums until he retired in 1978 due to the birth of his daughter. However, he did not stay away from performing permanently. He came back to the music scene in 1981 where he began to manage for Desmond Dekker. Studying drama and acting, he funneled his creative talents into television acting getting roles in a number of programs like Petticoat Junction, The Saint, Us Girls, and The Knock. Delroy Williams starred in “The Bill” for two episodes in 2004 as James Simon the Rastafarian. Delroy Williams was cast as a pedestrian in the 2005 smash hit Batman Begins. He also did television advertisements for Puma and One Step Beyond which is a Castle Music best-selling CD compilation.| |Delroy Williams was his manager, friend and backup singer since 1981 until Desmond Dekker passed away in 2006. However, Delroy Williams was able to squeeze in one last show with Dekker where he performed at the Viva Latin Music Festival with Desmond Dekker and the Aces, in 2006. Delroy Williams’ band called the Delroy Williams Junction Band whose members were the original Aces of Desmond Dekker and The Aces. Delroy and his backup band still tour today and they recorded with Desmond Dekker and even worked on some of his studio work in the 90s. Delroy Williams has been sought after by several new media outlets and SKA music fanatics concerning Dekker’s passing. Information was revealed that Delroy and Dekker were putting together an album that will hopefully be released soon, as it was created during the first part of 2005. The Delroy Williams Junction Band is the tribute band that has toured all over the world honoring Desmond Dekker and his contribution to ska and reggae music. Desmond Dekker has been mentioned by name in several songs and his music has been used in the movie Fool’s Gold starring Matthew McConaughey. Delroy Williams played alongside Prince Buster at the 40th Annual Montreux Music Festival in the Swiss Riveria 2007.| |
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