Stann Champion (May 16, 1952 – August 16, 2022) was an American-born guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He played

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and drums blending

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, calypso, R&B, and

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

styles. Best known as the leader of the band "Roots, Rock Society" (RRS), Champion provided

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

at hospitals and nursing homes. He has appeared with

Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult ( ; sometimes abbreviated BÖC or BOC) is an American rock band formed on Long Island in Stony Brook, New York, in 1967, and best known for the singles "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Burnin' for You", and "Godzilla". The band h ...

Quiet Riot Quiet Riot is an American heavy metal band founded in Los Angeles in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni. The original lineup featured Rhoads and Garni with lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow and drummer Drew Forsyth, though th ...

, Gil Scott-Heron,

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

, and

Burning Spear Winston Rodney OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots ...

. He received 12 Chicago Music Awards (CMA), for "Best Calypso", "Best Soul Calypso" and "Best Gospel/Spiritual Band" as well as CMA's "Lifetime Achievement Award," for his contributions to the Chicago music industry and community involvement.

Early life and education

Champion was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, United States, and moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

at an early age, where he was enrolled in public K-12 schools and the Chicago Art Institute Junior School. He attended

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

(SIUE), and Columbia College Chicago where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design in 1974.

Career

Before graduating from Chicago's Columbia College, Champion worked at a couple of Michigan Avenue advertising agencies during the day and played music at night. He was approached by a songwriter from the island of St. Kitts to record at

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

's Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, Jamaica. With a band called Gypsi-Fari in 1982, he recorded his first release titled "The Girls" for Obvio Records at Paul Serrano Studios in Chicago. Gypsi-Fari also won the first awards from the Chicago Music Awards in 1982. After leaving Gypsi-Fari in 1982, Champion returned to the private sector and was recruited for a band to back Jamaican singer/songwriter Carlene Davis for her North American tour. Her EP release featured two songs written by Champion and was reviewed in the "College Musical Journal" (CMJ). Soon after college stations nationwide were requesting promo copies for programming. Champion formed his own, the Roots Rock Society (RRS). With RRS, members came and went, but the project remained intact. With RRS, Champion created his "Tropical Roots" sound with the release of "Again", a four-song EP co-produced by David Axelbaum that reached over 250 radio stations worldwide.

Stann Champion Radio Show

* WNUR Chicago's Sound Experiment 89.3 FM * Stann Champion Show - Mondays +7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (Central)

Discography

*''Gypsi-Fari - Hail Jah '45'' (1981

Sonic Sounds Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain *Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider and CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities *Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...

) *''Stann Champion Roots Rock Society 'Cassette'' (1987 RRS International) *''Bass Mint Sessions 'Cassette'' (1991 RRS International) *''Again 'Compact Disk'' (1994 RRS International) *''Riddim to Riddim 'Compact Disk'' (2007 RRS International) *''La Familia 'Compact Disk'' (2010 RRS International) *''Cost of Living 'Compact Disk'' (2013 RRS International) *''TimeBless 'Compact Disk'' (2015 RRS International) *''Paradise Love 'Compact Disk'' (2016

VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, ...

) *''See Me 'Compact Disk'' (2016

)

Awards and nominations

*1980 "Playing for Peace Award" Kingston Jamaica *1982 "Best Band", Gypsi-Fari Chicago Music Awards (CMA) *1984 "Best New Band" , Safari CMA *1985 "Best Band", Safari CMA *1989 "Most Versatile Band", Roots Rock Society (RRS) *1990 RRS Received Certificate of "Special Recognition" from Lucent Technologies *1993 RRS nominated "Best Roots and Reggae", Illinois Entertainer *1994 "Best Gospel/Spiritual Entertainer", RRS CMA *1995 "Best Gospel Entertainer", RRS CMA *1996 "Best Band", RRS CMA *1997 "Most Versatile Band", RRS CMA *2002 "Producers Award" for Stann Champion CMA *2002 "Best Reggae Album/CD" for "Riddim to Riddim" CMA *2007 RRS awarded "Best Entertainer" by CMA *2008 RRS awarded "Best Entertainer" by CMA *2015 Awarded Certificate of Appreciation for Community Leadership by Chatham Avalon Park Community Council *2016 Awarded "Gresham 6 Award" for community service by 6th District *2016 Awarded "Lifetime Achievement Award" *2019 Elixir Strings Performing Artist Program

References

External links

*http://www.cinefestchicago.com/lineup (Chicago Cinefest - Bret Michaels, Blue Oyster Cult, Quite Riot, Freddy Jones Band with Roots Rock Society) *https://internationalmusician.org/stann-champion/ [International Musician Magazine 2017) *http://chicagocinema.net/?tag=stann-champion Chicago (Chicago Cinema Article) *https://chicagobroadcastingnetwork.com/video-profile-stann-champion/ (Chicago Broadcasting Network Video Profile Stann Champion) {{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Stann 1952 births 2022 deaths American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters Record producers from Pennsylvania Record producers from Illinois Columbia College Chicago alumni