A RENOWNED reggae singer is planning legal action against a UK record label for decades of unpaid music royalties.

Horace Andy claims he has not been paid music royalties in over 40 years. The 72-year-old singer is alleging Trojan Records UK is responsible and says he is seeking legal advice to take further action.

“I have been performing since 1966,” Andy told music site World Music Views.

“It’s true, man, all of them (owe me royalties), they’re working on it, ‘Justice For The Music’ is working on it. That’s the lawyers,” he added.

Andy was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and recorded his first song in 1967. Since then, he has released over 25 albums and is best known for his distinctive vocals.

Andy’s hit songs include Skylarking, Natty Dread A weh She Want, Zion Gate and Just Say Who amongst others.

The respected singer and songwriter is urging the next generation of Jamaican artists to avoid record labels and try and release music independently to avoid being ripped off.

“I think they should do it themselves, I think some a the youths them should gather up and form a company and do it themselves instead of giving your music to these people. What them doing?” he said.

Other cases

Andy is not the only Jamaican singer to consider legal action over unpaid royalties.

Max Romeo has recently filed a £12.3 million pound (US $15m) lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) Recordings and Polygram Publishing, Inc for unpaid royalties.

The veteran singer claims he has not been paid royalties for 19 songs, including his reggae anthem War Ina Babylon.

Award-winning reggae singer Etana previously told The Voice, she was suing VP Records – the biggest Reggae record label in the world – alleging she was ‘tricked’ and ‘robbed’ out of royalties. 

At the time, she said that big name reggae artists were “dying in poverty”, trying to sell their rights to get a decent burial and her case was just a tip of the iceberg.

During the early 1990s, Andy collaborated with Bristol band Massive Attack and contributed to five of their albums.

In November 2022, he performed a series of his hits on popular online music platform Tiny Desk.

The Voice, has contacted Trojan Records for comment.