Everton Blender happy to lift up his head at 70 after successful surgeries

Veteran Reggae singer Everton Blender is thankful to be celebrating his three-score-and-10 years birthday, a milestone that has been fraught with challenges and a bit of intrigue but also filled with many triumphs.

Currently residing in Florida, with his wife, Phyllis, and their children, Blender’s story of his relocation to a pasture of a different shade is certainly not unfamiliar. In a nutshell, the Rastafarian crooner opted to pack his bags and leave behind “the mix-up and blender” while continuing his musical journey.

“I love Jamaica, but sometimes all two years mi nuh get nuh show. There was a lot of fight … promoters will ask for me and people tell dem that dem don’t know where to find Blender or ‘Blender run way gone a foreign’ while we were still in the island. So we seh we a guh change we life a little … spread we wings instead of staying one place and not moving,” Blender told The Sunday Gleaner.

The move paid off careerwise as he started getting more shows, and Blender also witnessed his children flourish in their home away from home, something that was always top of mind when making important decisions.

“Di youth dem a do good and that mek we feel good,” Blender said softly.

Come November 24, Blender’s friends in the music industry will join him on stage at a concert at the Miramar Readiness Center in Florida to celebrate life.

“Seventy is a big deal, and I give thanks … a lot of us don’t get to see 70. My first hit record was in 1991, We nuh Jus’ a Come, and I am still going strong, despite a little bump on the road here and there,” Blender said of the song that made him a star three years shy of his 40th birthday.

The Ghetto People Song singer revealed that he has had health challenges that have seen him undergo seven surgeries in three years, and he sang his family praises for their support.

“We didn’t really publicise it. We consulted the doctors and did what we had to do. Sometimes people see me on stage, and I couldn’t move the way I want to because I was sick. But now, I can run from one side of the stage to the other,” Blender shared.

His daughter Isha, who Blender teasingly referred to as “a big promoter” since she is the one organising his birthday bash, seems to have slipped into an unofficial managerial role. Despite holding down a full-time job, Isha could easily answer every question about her father’s health and career.

“He calls himself 16,” Isha said with a laugh. “The surgery last year was the last one, and the others were two years before that. The doctors wanted him to do another one this year, and we said no. We prayed and trusted the Most High. He fasted and cleansed his system … and now we have a new, younger, happier daddy.”

Blender, who visited Africa last year – doing shows in Malawi and Kenya – also had concerts in England this year and had to postpone August dates in North Carolina, USA, owing to a hurricane. However, he is still keenly aware of the need for relaxation.

“I am still getting some rest, and I do a lot of exercise. The more yuh walk, the more yuh live long. Life starts in the feet,” he said sagaciously.

He is particularly happy to have performed at the popular Dancehall Thursdays in Jamaica recently, and he is excited about his upcoming birthday bash when he will share the stage with his friends such as Spragga Benz, Tanya Stephens, Louie Culture, Rygin King, Bushman, I-Octane, Agent Sasco, Gyptian, and a host of others, including his children Isha, Jahmela, and Chisomo.

“At Dancehall Thursdays, the crowd loved mi same way. Everton Blender is all about showing love. That four-letter word … love … is very important. I always sing positive songs, and people still play them. The other day a bredren call me from Jamaica and seh, ‘Yuh still deh yah wid we? Cause a bare Blender mi hear a play pon radio.’ That’s a good thing .. keep playing good music while we are here,” Blender said.

The singer has been under new management since September when he signed to Allison Hunte’s 7 Star Entertainment. He recently released his first album in eight years, a project titled Can’t Take My Space. Songs from the album that have already been released include the title track Going Down, Slavery Ship, and Money.

“ Slavery Ship was number one on the iTunes Chart in Switzerland in August. I produced it, and it was mixed by Jason Brookfield. It is important to do good songs. Right now, yuh have some youths singing good songs, but overall, I would say the levels kinda drop. The songs we sing now must be still strong in the next 25 years,” said Blender, whose Star Trail-produced début album, Lift Up Your Head, had three hits, including the title track, which is a bona fide reggae anthem.

Born in Clarendon, Blender’s bio states that he grew up on Maxfield Avenue, Kingston. He began his career after winning an amateur talent contest in the late 1970s at the Bohemia Club, using the moniker Babbaru. He subsequently released several singles, but commercial success eluded him, and he ditched the music business. He returned in the early ‘90s when Garnett Silk introduced him to Richard Bell, who signed him to his Star Trail label. Blender savoured instant success with We No Jus’ a Come, and he would go on to tour the UK, where his album Lift Up Your Head reached number four on the Black Echoes music chart.

Blender, whose real name is Everton Dennis Williams, will actually celebrate his 70th birthday on November 21, surrounded by family and close friends.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com