His black beret tilted, the gleaming loafers on his feet touched the stage floor with a light step. His stride was woven into the history of rocksteady, flowing straight from his voice. He wasn’t there to be an idol; he was there to sing. And in every note was etched the story of an orphan from Kingston who changed history without ever cloaking himself in myth.

Born Desmond Adolphus Dacres on July 16, 1941, he grew up at Alpha Boys School—a home for orphans and a crucible where the very soul of Jamaican music was forged. 

His croon and phrasing recalled the charm of Little Richard, Nat King Cole, and Sam Cooke.But before the microphone called, the hot iron of a welding workshop was his trade. Until friends shared their rallying cry: “Set your stage, Desmond—life is more than just a wage!”

“The rude boy train is comin’ now,

The rude boy train is comin’ now,

Dippy dippy dooey – dippy dippy dooey.”

From a welder whose body bore the marks of hard labor, he carried a fire that had no place sitting in an audition waiting room. Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid shut their doors without mercy, but Leslie Kong—alongside Derrick Morgan, Jimmy Cliff, and Theophilus Beckford—gave him their blessing. A spirit that became an inspiration, even a path later followed by another welder named Robert Nesta Marley.