‘Gregory never allowed me to smoke even a spliff,’ widow June Isaacs recalls

Lover’s rock singer Gregory Isaacs was the coolest ruler reggae has ever seen, and long before swag was even a thing, he embodied swag in every fibre of his being. In demand for live appearance, Isaacs travelled the world, and on that journey picked up a habit that wasn’t so cool and which beset him for years: an addiction to cocaine.

The singer made a conscious decision not to hide his addiction and hoped that by speaking out he would be able to help others. Even after his death, he continues to do that through the Gregory Isaacs Foundation, which was established by his widow, June Isaacs. One of their charities is Patricia House, an intervention programme that meets the needs of drug users and other socially displaced persons. It provides an affordable residential substance-abuse treatment and rehabilitation programme for individuals 18 years and over.

“Gregory had his charities that he took care of up until the time of his passing,” June Isaacs shared. “We added the Patricia House because in our opinion, it is one of the best facilities for rehabilitation. Gregory had no connection with Patricia House, but we took that on based on how he encouraged everyone not to go down the road that he was on.”

The foundation last week handed over a cheque to Patricia House, which represented part proceeds from the Mother’s Day concert, Red Rose For Gregory. They have been assisting Patricia House from the first staging of the concert in 2017.

“It’s a pleasure to donate to them knowing that it is for a real, real, real cause. We, living with Gregory, know what this whole thing entails ... we have been through it. As his widow ... and his kids ... we have so many stories about what it has done to our home and our lives,” June said.

On reflection, she noted that Isaacs was very much against members of his family using any form of drugs and repeatedly warned them about the dangers of substance abuse.

‘TREAD THE LINE STRAIGHT’

“I could not smoke anything, take anything ... I had to tread the line straight. Gregory never allowed me to smoke even a spliff. I had locks for so many years, and I was never allowed to roll any weed or anything like that. He would say to us that dem summ’n yah mek fi him and we nuh fi try that,” she recalled.

Gregory Isaacs died in London on October 25, 2010, from lung cancer. June shared that prior to his passing, Isaacs did a video in which he encouraged youth not to take drugs because he knew what it was doing to him.

“Gregory was in a situation where, basically, he couldn’t stop because he was down the road too far. And so even in the end, he would say to us, ‘Anybody who you see a tek this, try and help dem.’ So the foundation took a decision to support Patricia House in whatever way we can,” she said.

The facility, which was based in Kingston, is now located at a new home in Linstead, St Catherine, and June gushed over the improvements.

“It is big and beautiful and can accommodate more persons. And as long as we are having Red Rose for Gregory, we will be giving them something,” she pledged.

Red Rose for Gregory, held on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, at Hope Gardens in Kingston, was headlined by Grammy award-winning group The Manhattans, featuring Gerald Alston and R&B great Deniece Williams, who was given the Key to the City of Kingston by the mayor. Brilliant supporting acts were JC Lodge, Etana, Errol Dunkley, and Hezron.

June was quick to point out that the support from her “wonderful sponsors such as the [RJRGLEANER COMMUNICATIONS] Group, the Ministry of Culture, TEF, Tads Records, Dunn’s Electrical, Worthy Park Estate, KSAMC, and Starlight Productions “ went a far way in making the event a success, thus enabling the foundation to make the handover to the facility.

Gregory Isaacs, known as the Cool Ruler, was one of reggae music’s most popular singers in the 1970s and ’80s. According to his bio, he recorded for many of Jamaica’s top producers during the 1970s, including Winston ‘Niney’ Holness, Gussie Clarke, Lloyd Campbell, Glen Brown, Harry Mudie, Roy Cousins, Sydney Crooks, and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. By the late 1970s, Isaacs was one of the biggest reggae performers in the world, regularly touring the US and the UK, challenged only by Dennis Brown and Bob Marley.

Among his biggest hits were Night Nurse, My Number One, Stranger in Town, Love Overdue, Soon Forward, and Rumours, a song that spoke to drug use.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com