Cover Bands and Tribute Acts
Janet Kay was born in London. She loved singing from a very early age,
and having listened to Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder to The Beatles, Motown acts and her fathers old records her dream was to become a singer. Her dream came true in the late 70's when Janet and a friend turned up at Aswad�s rehearsal room. In a quiet moment Janet decided to test out the microphone, and was heard by Tony Gad. Janet, through this connection, was invited to sing a reggae cover of Minnie Ripperton's song "Lovin' You" (produced by Alton Ellis) which became a reggae smash hit in 1977. In 1979, "Silly Games" (produced by Dennis Bovell) became a hit in not only U.K., but also in Europe. Janet is also in the Guinness Book of Records, as the first British Black Female to have a reggae song in the British charts. The song �Silly Games got to the No. 2 position in the British charts. Janet also appeared on Top of the Tops several times.
Janet�s first album, "Capricorn Woman", was also a smash hit in the reggae market, and all the tracks, with the exception of 2 were written by Janet.
After Janet�s musical success she decided to embark on an acting career and became involved with a theatre company (Black Theatre Co-operative). The early 80�s saw Janet�s debut theatre performance in the Black Theatre Co-operative�s first musical (Mama Dragon). After touring in that, and several other theatre plays all over Britain and Europe, Channel 4 approached members of the Black Theatre Co-operative (Janet included) to come up with an idea for a TV comedy sitcom. That was the birth of the successful television comedy programme �No Problem!, which ran for 3-4 years.
In the late 1980�s, Janet released a cover album �Sweet Surrender�, produced by Lloyd Charmers.
In 1991, �Sweet Surrender� renamed "Lovin' You, Best of Janet Kay", including a newly recorded version of "Lovin' You" was released in Japan and became a massive hit there. The hit of this album created a reggae boom in Japan. A successful Japanese tour followed and Janet has been signed to Sony Music since then.
In 1993, Janet released a new album in Japan, "Love You Always", produced by her friends Tony Gad and Drummie Zeb (Aswad.
In August 1993, Janet went to Japan to perform at the "Reggae Sun Splash". The following year Janet had another successful tour of Japan.
Also in 1994, Janet released her second special album in Japan entitled, "For the Love of You", with Tony Gad and Drummie Zeb, again, as producers.
In 1995, Janet became seriously ill and went to Jamaica to stay with her parents to convalesce. Her experience in Jamaica gave her the idea for her next album, "In Paradise" which was released in 1996. The album was produced by Tony Gad, Drummie Zeb and Junior Giscombe (known for his song �Mama Used to Say� This album was another hit for Janet and saw her talent as a songwriter, with more than half the tracks written by herself.
In 1997, Janet wanted to record another album but felt that she wanted to experiment with other types of music not just reggae which she was already very well known for. Janet decided to invite several producers including Omar, Jeremy Meehan, Shinichi Osawa, to create an album which reflected her love for R & B and other musical genres. This album, entitled "Making History" was released in 1998 and saw Janet flourish as a singer-songwirter.
In 1999, she recorded 3 songs for a TV drama soundtrack in Japan as a guest vocalist and songwriter. Janet also released her best of album, "Through the Years", which included remixes of 2 out of the 3
tracks from the soundtrack. In August 1999 Janet went to Japan and
performed at the �Jump n Splash�, together with the members of Aswad.
Janet is currently writing and recording her next album.
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