Veteran singer Tony Roy recalls a defining moment in his life for ‘Bad Boy Johnny’, his latest song which was released in September. It goes back to the 1990s when he was a teenager in his native St. Thomas parish, Jamaica.
The track is about Johnny, a boy he knew in the town of Seaforth in eastern Jamaica. Johnny was prone to trouble, and that waywardness cost him his life. “Johnny was a youth who I grew up with from primary school, but him was one of dem youth who wouldn’t listen, him get inna bad company an’ get killed,” said Tony Roy, who produced the song.
He added that although Seaforth was a rural community, crime was rampant there during the early 1980s. Almost 40 years later, the Baltimore-based artist is amazed at the level of global delinquency among young people. “What I woulda encourage dem to do is stay on di right path. Trust mi, it’s di best way,” he said.
Tony Roy focused on music while living in St. Thomas where he nurtured his skills as a drummer and vocalist with local bands. He made his recording debut in 1985 and continued his music career after migrating to Baltimore during the late 1990s.
After occupying the drum seat in Baltimore/Washington DC area bands like Rising Sun and Covenant, Tony Roy re-launched a solo career that has to date yielded a number of singles and one album. That set, ‘Waiting List’, was released in 2011.