Steel Pulse (GB)

About

Steel Pulse hold a genuinely remarkable distinction: they were the first non Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album, picking up that win for 1985's Babylon the Bandit. The Birmingham band from Handsworth built their reputation on fiercely political roots reggae, tackling racism, Rastafarian faith and social justice with real conviction. Their debut album Handsworth Revolution helped push the roots sound beyond Jamaica, and their Island Records single Ku Klux Klan, later ranked among Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs, gave their live shows an unforgettable theatrical edge. Through the 1980s and 1990s they kept evolving, moving through Elektra and MCA Records and racking up eight further Grammy nominations along the way. They became the first reggae act to appear on The Tonight Show, contributed to the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing, and in 2004 returned to hard hitting form with African Holocaust, featuring guests like Damian Marley and Capleton. Frontman David Hinds has kept the band active for decades, making Steel Pulse one of reggae's most enduring acts outside Jamaica.