Hailing from Birmingham, England, reggae singer and toaster Pato Banton is a Grammy-nominated reggae legend who has recorded and toured the world with The English Beat, Steel Pulse, UB40 and STING!
In 2000, in the midst of a global trek with Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD organization that combined huge festivals with music outreach programs to poor and underprivileged communities, Pato learned that two of his sons had been shot in a drive-by shooting. He immediately put his career on hold and turned his sorrow into the impetus for community & educational initiatives that would consume the next six years of his life.
Pato created an organization called “Musical Connections” and in ... view more »
In 2000, in the midst of a global trek with Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD organization that combined huge festivals with music outreach programs to poor and underprivileged communities, Pato learned that two of his sons had been shot in a drive-by shooting. He immediately put his career on hold and turned his sorrow into the impetus for community & educational initiatives that would consume the next six years of his life.
Pato created an organization called “Musical Connections” and in partnership the Community Safety Team, provided tuition and counseling for “at risk” young people in 16 different communities across Birmingham. This project was so successful that Pato was approached by the West Midlands Police Department to tackle the ongoing problem of gun crime in some of the poorest neighborhoods. Within a few years this partnership greatly reduced gun crime across the entire city and Pato was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the BBC and entered into the British Music Hall of Fame during the same year.
In 2006, after feeling that he had planted enough seeds of progress within his home community, Pato decided to relocate to Southern California and embark on the second phase of his musical journey, taking with him the years of experience in the field of Loving Service. Since then Pato has recorded many albums and collaborated with artists all over the world. His most recent albums “Love Is The Greatest” and “The Words Of Rastafari” were released on Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Records International.
Pato Banton’s four-decade public presence has increasingly transcended music to convey a positive & uplifting message of global peace and love for humanity. Now based in Southern California, he continues to record and tour the world extensively with his band The Now Generation, while simultaneously serving as a Teacher, Minister, Counselor and Mentor to his Fans, Friends & Family worldwide
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