Hortense Ellis

Born on 18 April 1941 in Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies, and passing away there on 19 October 2000, Hortense Ellis launched her singing journey through appearances on Vere Johns’ Opportunity Hour, advancing through six semi-finals and four finals while displaying her vocal talents. Her path was frequently eclipsed by her sibling Alton Ellis, widely known as the godfather of reggae. Byron Lee enlisted her in 1962 to sing alongside his Dragonaires, and by 1964 she received Jamaica’s best female vocalist accolade. Collaborations followed with Ken Lack, yielding the successful ‘I Shall Sing’ and ‘Brown Girl In The Ring’—the latter later achieving global success via Boney M.—as well as with Coxsone Dodd on ‘I’ll Come Softly’ and ‘I’m Just A Girl’, her take on Alton’s ‘I’m Just A Guy’. In 1969 she again earned the silver cup as the island’s premier female vocalist.

Throughout the 1970s she maintained a steady output of recordings, many produced by Bunny Lee. Responding to Althea And Donna’s worldwide success with ‘Up Town Top Ranking’, he featured her as Queen Tiney on ‘Down Town Ting’ and the well-received ‘Natty Dread Time’. She also delivered a version of her brother’s Studio One track ‘Sitting In The Park’ along with the popular ‘Mark My Words’. A joint effort with Alton, ‘Since I Fell For You’, and the single ‘Superstar’ kept her visible. After marrying Mikey ‘Junior’ Saunders in 1971 she cut several popular sides for Lee Perry under the name Mahalia Saunders. The union ended five years later, after which Ellis devoted much of the late 1970s to her children, though she still found occasion to record the vocal showcase ‘Unexpected Places’ with Gussie Clarke. Paired with Jackie Edwards she scored a hit via ‘Let It Be Me’, while solo efforts included ‘Got To Make It’ and ‘Time After Time’.

An intermittent performer who juggled family responsibilities with her craft, she resided in Miami, Florida, for much of the 1980s before returning to Jamaica. In 1993 she joined Bunny Lee for the television documentary Stir It Up, where she voiced concerns that slackness and gun lyrics harmed the music and negatively shaped younger listeners. Throat cancer significantly limited her stage work through the remainder of the decade.