Byron Lee and the Dragonaires

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Byron Lee and the Dragonaires is the band that Jamaican bandleader Byron Lee formed in 1957, when he was 20 years old. The Jamaica Gleaner, reporting his death from cancer in November 2008, called Lee a soca icon and counted his career at more than 50 years. The same report credits him with helping to popularise carnival in Jamaica through the annual Jamaica Carnival, and names Tiny Winey among his hits. Destra Garcia told the paper that his music shaped the ragga soca style. Lee received the Order of Distinction in 1982, was raised to Commander class in 2007, and was conferred with the Order of Jamaica shortly before he died. Lee's catalogue on Deezer shows how long the soca link ran, with albums such as Soca Engine (1996), Socarobics (1997) and Soca Vibes (2001) on Dynamic, plus Soca Royal on VP Records in 2008. Kingston Calypso, from the Dr. No soundtrack, points back to the calypso side of the band's story.