Romain Virgo

n 2007 singer Romain Virgo, then just 17 years old, made history as the youngest person to win Digicel Rising Stars, Jamaica’s wildly popular TV talent competition. Romain clinched the contest with his rollicking interpretation of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke”, which earned rave reviews from the judges and a standing ovation from the studio audience. Romain also won the hearts of Jamaican TV viewers with his good-natured humility and robust vocals, which evoke the essence of revered soul stars Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye.

Among the prizes bestowed upon the Rising Stars champion was JA$1 million (approximately US$11,300) and the opportunity to record with producers Richard “Shams” Browne and Tony Rebel. Rebel, a successful artist in his own right, referred Romain to veteran producer Donovan Germain, the founder of Penthouse Records whose label and recording studio provided a successful launching pad for many young reggae artists throughout the late 80s through the mid 90s including Rebel, Wayne Wonder, Cutty Ranks, Sanchez and Buju Banton whom Germain managed for 18 years.

Recognizing Romain’s vast potential, Germain encouraged him to write his own songs. Romain took that advice and has since penned several reggae hits including “Wanna Go Home”, “Murderer” and the Jamaican chart topper “Can’t Sleep”, which earned the singer many fans beyond the island’s shores. Those songs, alongside several new selections comprising Romain’s impressive self-titled debut album due for release on VP Records in May, confirm that this rising star has now matured into a stellar reggae talent.

“Most people say I have been here before, that I am an old soul, and now I just come back,” said the singer who cites Bob Marley, Beres Hammond, Alton Ellis and Sanchez, in addition to the aforementioned American soul legends, among his greatest influences. “I want to do good music, and have it be played not just locally but all over the world. I want my music to make a difference.”

Romain Virgo (his birth name) was born in a small district called Stepney in the parish of St. Ann. He was raised in a Christian family that sang together each Saturday night and recorded their voices on cassettes, which they would play back on Sunday morning. While listening to their tapes one morning, a friend of the family inquired about one of the beautiful voices she heard; young Romain, however, didn’t pay much attention to the many compliments garnered by his vocal abilities. “I never took it serious,” he reflected, "I said it is just people in the community that want to build my confidence. Then, when I was about 10, I had the mic and I was singing “Amazing Grace” in church because I like the sound of the echo in the church and everybody was saying whoa, you can really sing. That is when I started to take it seriously."

Romain went on to become the lead singer for his church choir and by his mid-teens he was the leader of his high school choir. The Aabuthnott High School Choir entered All Together Sing, the weekly scholastic choir contest broadcast on TVJ, a Jamaican television network; they placed second out of 60 contenders and Romain’s powerful vocals established him as a national celebrity. “The competition was shown on local TV so everyone would look out for it every Thursday night and that is how people started knowing me,” Romain says. “At the end of the competition in 2006 people were saying you need to enter Rising Stars next year.”
Romain did just that and he describes the experience as “a dream come true. I always wondered what it would be like to win, with all of the attention focused on me. That night when the host of the show said that the winner for 2007 is Romain Virgo, I was like (he laughs and then suddenly is at a loss for words, overcome by recollections of that victorious moment), I couldn’t move. I was just looking up, giving God thanks.”

Now 20 years old, Romain is currently studying for his bachelors degree in performance at Kingston’s Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts with a major in voice and a minor in keyboard. He balances his studies with a hectic live performance schedule and the further pursuit of his recording career, which is sure to receive greater attention with the release of his exceptional debut album.