Abdel Wright entered the world in 1977 in Trinityville, St. Thomas, Jamaica. His single mother’s mental instability prompted state custody when he was nine months old, and he moved between orphanages before arriving at the SOS Children’s Village in Montego Bay. Country singer Johnny Cash, who maintained a residence nearby and partially funded the facility, permitted visits from the boy, whose exposure to Cash’s music and advocacy for human rights left a lasting mark. At age 12 Wright received his first guitar as a Christmas present and soon acquired proficiency on piano and flute, later extending his skills to drums and harmonica.
By 18 he was composing original songs that revealed an early talent for addressing social and political inequities. After leaving the orphanage, however, he turned to crime for survival and received an eight-year sentence on a gun charge in a Jamaican prison, ultimately serving five years during which he continued to hone his songwriting. Upon release he performed throughout Jamaica’s club circuit and attracted the notice of Dave Stewart and U2’s Bono. Stewart executive-produced the self-titled debut album Abdel Wright, recorded largely at an Ocho Rios studio, while Bono played the finished work for Interscope Records head Jimmy Iovine, who approved its release in the summer of 2005.
Bono has called Wright “the most important Jamaican artist since Bob Marley.” The singer rejects Jamaica’s dominant dancehall styles in favor of an acoustic sound built around roots and cultural themes, lending his work a distinctly Jamaican character that simultaneously carries a universal pop and folk-rock sensibility.
