The following is a list of notable people from Jamaica. The list includes some non-resident Jamaicans who were born in Jamaica and also people of predominantly Jamaican heritage.

Artists

  • Carl Abrahams, painter
  • Hope Brooks, painter
  • John Dunkley, painter and sculptor
  • Gloria Escoffery, painter and art critic
  • Laura Facey, sculptor and installation artist
  • Christopher González, painter and sculptor
  • Ras Daniel Heartman, artist
  • Albert Huie, painter
  • George "Fowokan" Kelly, sculptor
  • Edna Manley, painter, sculptor and arts educator
  • Alvin Marriott, sculptor
  • Ronald Moody, sculptor; Moody crater on Mercury was named after him
  • Keith Anthony Morrison, painter, printmaker, educator, critic, curator and administrator
  • Petrona Morrison, sculptor and media artist
  • Ebony Patterson, visual artist and educator
  • David Pottinger, painter
  • Mallica Reynolds, painter and sculptor
  • Margaret Rose Vendryes, multimedia artist
  • Barrington Watson, painter
  • Basil Watson, painter and sculptor
  • Donnette Zacca, fine arts photographer, lecturer, and artist

Beauty contest winners

  • Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976
  • Carole Joan Crawford, Miss World 1963
  • Lisa Hanna, Miss World 1993, politician
  • Toni-Ann Singh, Miss World 2019

Business and law

  • Alexander Aikman, printer, publisher, and landowner
  • Chris Blackwell, president and CEO of Island Records and Palm Pictures, NYC
  • Morris Cargill, lawyer and businessman
  • G. Raymond Chang, co-founder of CI Financial and the third chancellor of Ryerson University
  • Alexandra Chong, founder and CEO of Jacana
  • Tanya Chutkan, Jamaican-born American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district court judge for the District of Columbia; judge overseeing the criminal trial of former president Donald Trump over his attempts to overturn the 2020 general election including events leading up to the United States Capitol attack
  • Gloria Cumper, barrister, first black woman to study at the University of Cambridge
  • Jak Beula Dodd, entrepreneur and inventor of the board game Nubian Jak
  • Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, businessman, farmer and founder of "The Black Farmer" range of food products
  • Renatha Francis, circuit judge in Palm Beach County, Florida
  • Alfred Constantine Goffe, "the banana king" of Port Maria
  • Claudia L. Gordon, lawyer, first deaf black female attorney in the United States
  • Marshall Hall, economist, businessman and banker
  • Ephraim and Lowell Hawthorne, founders of Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery
  • Joey Issa, founder of Cool Group
  • Michael Lee-Chin, chairman/CEO of AIC Limited, chairman of NCB Jamaica
  • Henry Lowe, owner of a variety of businesses in the health industry
  • Val McCalla, accountant and media entrepreneur; the founder of The Voice, a British weekly newspaper aimed at the Britain's black community
  • Caroline Newman, entrepreneur and the first black solicitor to be elected to the Council of the Law Society of England and Wales
  • Philip Ernest Housden Pike, barrister and judge who served as the second Chief Justice of Borneo
  • Heather Rabbatts, businesswoman, solicitor and broadcaster; became the youngest council chief in the UK; first ethnic minority person to serve as a Football Association director
  • Patrick Lipton Robinson, member of the International Court of Justice
  • Tracy Robinson, lawyer and lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies
  • Lascelles Robotham, lawyer and chief justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
  • Levi Roots, chairman of Reggae Reggae Sauce
  • David P. Rowe, lawyer
  • Adam Stewart
  • Gordon "Butch" Stewart
  • George Stiebel, trader and entrepreneur who became Jamaica's first black millionaire
  • Tom Tavares-Finson, lawyer
  • Gail Vaz-Oxlade, financial adviser, TV personality
  • James S. Watson, one of the first Black Americans elected as a judge in the state of New York
  • Dame Sharon White, businesswoman and Second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury 2013–2015; first black person, and the second woman, to become a permanent secretary at the UK HM Treasury
  • Damian Williams, first African-American U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York

Bands

  • Black Uhuru, Grammy Award winners
  • Bob Marley and the Wailers
  • Burning Spear
  • Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
  • Culture
  • Inner Circle
  • Morgan Heritage, Grammy Award winners
  • The Pioneers
  • Skatalites, ska band
  • Sly and Robbie
  • Third World
  • T.O.K., a crew of deejays
  • Toots and the Maytals, double Grammy Award winners

Journalists, poets and writers

  • Opal Palmer Adisa, writer
  • Louisa Wells Aikman, writer
  • Gwyneth Barber Wood, poet
  • Edward Baugh, poet
  • Lindsay Barrett, writer, playwright, journalist
  • Louise Bennett-Coverley, poet
  • Evon Blake, journalist
  • Barbara Blake Hannah, author and journalist; first black on-camera reporter and interviewer on British television
  • Jean "Binta" Breeze, poet
  • Erna Brodber, novelist
  • Lady Colin Campbell, writer, socialite
  • Morris Cargill, journalist
  • Margaret Cezair-Thompson, novelist
  • Colin Channer, novelist, co-founder of Calabash
  • Staceyann Chin, poet and writer
  • Michelle Cliff, writer
  • Aston Cooke, playwright, artistic director
  • Carolyn Cooper, writer and cultural theorist
  • Christine Craig, poet and short story writer
  • Patricia Cumper, playwright
  • Kwame Dawes, Ghana-born writer, co-founder of Calabash
  • Jean D'Costa, professor, linguist, and children's novelist
  • Ferdinand Dennis, writer, broadcaster, journalist and lecturer
  • Nicole Dennis-Benn, novelist
  • John Figueroa, poet
  • Ryan Fraser, writer
  • Thomas Glave, Bronx-born writer
  • Lorna Goodison, writer
  • Hubert Henry Harrison, writer, philosopher
  • Victor Headley, author
  • John Hearne, journalist, novelist
  • Perry Henzell, writer, director
  • Marlon James, novelist
  • Vere Johns, writer, broadcaster, actor
  • Linton Kwesi Johnson, dub poet
  • Evan Jones, writer
  • Roger Mais, novelist
  • Louis Marriott, playwright, actor, director, journalist
  • Una Marson, writer, broadcaster
  • Claude McKay, writer
  • Alecia McKenzie, writer
  • Anthony McNeill, poet
  • Brian Meeks, novelist
  • Kei Miller, writer
  • Pamela Mordecai, poet
  • Mervyn Morris, poet
  • Mutabaruka, poet
  • Oku Onuora, writer
  • Geoffrey Philp, writer
  • Patricia Powell, novelist
  • Claudia Rankine, poet
  • Barry Reckord, playwright
  • Victor Stafford Reid, writer
  • Leone Ross, novelist, editor, short story writer, journalist, academic
  • Andrew Salkey, writer
  • Dennis Scott, poet and playwright
  • Olive Senior, writer
  • Malachi Smith, poet
  • Pamela Colman Smith, artist and writer
  • Michael Thelwell, writer
  • Vivian Virtue, poet
  • Sylvia Wynter, writer
  • Kerry Young, author

Models

  • Tyson Beckford, model
  • Martine Beswick, model, actress
  • Carla Campbell, model
  • Naomi Campbell, model
  • Winnie Harlow, model
  • Grace Jones, model, musician, actress
  • Venice Kong, Playboy playmate
  • Stacey McKenzie, supermodel, actress and model coach
  • Rachel Stuart, model, television personality
  • Karin Taylor, former Playboy model

Musicians, actors and filmmakers

  • Aidonia, dancehall, rap DJ
  • DJ Akademiks, blogger
  • Alaine, singer
  • Monty Alexander, jazz pianist and composer
  • Cherine Anderson, singer, actress, director
  • Esther Anderson, actress, filmmaker, photographer
  • Buju Banton, reggae singer
  • Roxanne Beckford, actress and producer
  • Beenie Man, DJ; Grammy winner
  • Thom Bell, musician, singer-songwriter, arranger and producer
  • Barbara Blake Hannah, filmmaker, festival organiser
  • Bounty Killer, reggae musician
  • Carl Bradshaw, actor, film producer
  • Yvonne Brewster, actress, theatre director
  • Brigadier Jerry, reggae musician, dancehall DJ
  • Dennis Brown, reggae singer
  • Gregory Isaacs, reggae singer
  • Burning Spear, real name Winston Rodney, reggae musician
  • Busy Signal, dancehall and reggae musician DJ
  • Canibus, rapper
  • Charlie Chaplin, reggae singer
  • Clive Chin, record producer
  • Tessanne Chin, singer-songwriter, winner of NBC's The Voice Season 5 in 2013
  • Vincent "Randy" Chin, record producer, co-founder of VP Records
  • Chipmunk, rapper, songwriter
  • Chubb Rock, rapper, radio personality
  • Tami Chynn, singer-songwriter
  • Jimmy Cliff, singer, reggae musician
  • Count Ossie, Rastafari drummer and band leader
  • Patricia Cumper, producer, director, theatre administrator, critic and commentator
  • Yvonne Curtis, reggae singer-songwriter
  • Desmond Dekker, ska and reggae singer
  • Demarco, reggae and dancehall musician
  • Coxsone Dodd, record producer
  • Clancy Eccles, ska and reggae singer, record producer
  • Eek-a-Mouse, reggae singer
  • Elephant Man, reggae singer
  • Horace Faith, reggae singer
  • Chuck Fenda, singer
  • FKA Twigs, singer
  • Honor Ford-Smith, actress, playwright, poet
  • Dean Fraser, reggae musician
  • Kirk Fraser, film director, film producer, screenwriter
  • Ghetts, grime MC
  • Joe Gibbs, record producer
  • Andrew Gourlay, conductor
  • Mona Hammond, actress
  • Dahlia Harris, actress and television personality
  • Heavy D, rapper
  • Sean Paul Henriques, dancehall musician
  • Toots Hibbert, reggae musician
  • Joseph Hill, reggae musician and band leader, Culture
  • Deni Hines, singer
  • Marcia Hines, singer
  • Stephen Hopkins, film director
  • Giggs, rapper
  • Grace Jones, singer and actress
  • Natalia Kills, singer
  • K-Anthony, gospel singer
  • Ini Kamoze, reggae musician
  • Kano, rapper, actor
  • Koffee, reggae musician
  • Vybz Kartel, dancehall musician, rapper, DJ
  • Wynton Kelly, jazz pianist
  • Joseph Hoo Kim, record producer
  • Diana King, reggae musician
  • King Tubby, dub musician
  • Sean Kingston, singer
  • Sean Paul, singer
  • Kiprich, DJ
  • DJ Kool Herc, DJ
  • Byron Lee, ska and soca musician
  • Rusty Lee, actress, singer, television personality
  • Barrington Levy, reggae singer
  • Mad Cobra, dancehall DJ
  • Bob Marley, reggae singer
  • Damian Marley, reggae musician
  • Ky-Mani Marley, reggae musician
  • Rita Marley, reggae singer; wife of Bob Marley
  • Stephen Marley, singer
  • Ziggy Marley, reggae musician; son of Bob Marley
  • Mavado, dancehall and reggae musician
  • Winston McAnuff, reggae and dub singer and composer aka Electric Dread
  • Carmen McRae, singer
  • Mr. Vegas, DJ
  • Hugh Mundell, reggae singer-songwriter
  • The Notorious B.I.G., rapper
  • Augustus Pablo, reggae singer
  • PARTYNEXTDOOR, singer
  • Patra, dancehall musician
  • Dawn Penn, reggae singer
  • Lee "Scratch" Perry, reggae musician
  • Leigh-Anne Pinnock, singer
  • Prince Buster, ska singer and producer
  • Ernest Ranglin, jazz, ska, rocksteady and reggae guitarist
  • Ras Droppa, reggae artist
  • Lloyd Reckord, actor, producer, director, playwright
  • Duke Reid, record producer
  • Pete Rock, record producer, DJ, rapper
  • Wayne Rhoden, singer-songwriter
  • Tarrus Riley, singer
  • Tenor Saw, reggae artist
  • Sasha, DJ
  • Lady Saw, reggae musician
  • Serani, reggae singer
  • Shabba Ranks, reggae musician
  • Shaggy, singer-songwriter
  • Shenseea, rapper
  • Madge Sinclair, Emmy-winning actress
  • Sister Nancy, dancehall DJ
  • Sizzla, reggae and dancehall deejay
  • Millie Small, singer-songwriter
  • Mikey Smith, dub poet
  • Spice, dancehall musician
  • Spot, rapper
  • Spragga Benz, reggae and dancehall DJ
  • Neville Staple, singer
  • Stefflon Don, rapper
  • Peter Tosh, reggae musician
  • Ruby Turner, singer-songwriter and actress
  • Tyga, rapper
  • Bunny Wailer, reggae singer
  • Ashley Walters, actor
  • Walshy Fire, DJ
  • Willard White, operatic bass-baritone
  • will.i.am, rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer
  • Peter Williams, actor
  • Wretch 32, rapper
  • XXXTentacion, rapper and singer-songwriter
  • Yellowman, reggae and dancehall DJ

Politicians

  • Kenneth Baugh, minister of Health and deputy prime minister
  • Barbara Blake-Hannah, first Rastafarian representative in the Jamaican parliament
  • Alexander Bustamante, trade unionist and prime minister, national hero
  • Phyllis Coard, revolutionary and politician in Grenada
  • R. James deRoux, longest-serving custos rotulorum
  • Bruce Golding, prime minister
  • Lisa Hanna, minister of Youth & Culture, former Miss World
  • Kamala Harris, vice president of the United States
  • Abraham Hodgson, member of House of Assembly of Jamaica
  • Andrew Holness, prime minister
  • Hyman Isaac Long, deputy inspector general of the Grand Consistory of the twenty-five degree "Rite of the Royal Secret" (11 January 1795)
  • Michael Manley, prime minister
  • Norman Manley, prime minister and Jamaican national hero
  • Earle Maynier, first Jamaican high commissioner to Canada
  • Henry Moore, colonial governor
  • Trevor Munroe, trade unionist and politician
  • P. J. Patterson, prime minister
  • Noah Nickolas Perry, American politician and diplomat who had served as the United States ambassador to Jamaica
  • Edward Seaga, prime minister
  • Portia Simpson-Miller, prime minister
  • Tom Tavares-Finson, president of the Senate of Jamaica

Religious leaders

  • S. U. Hastings, first Jamaican bishop of the Moravian Church
  • Rev Rose Josephine Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover and first black woman to become a Church of England bishop; first black woman to hold the role of Queen's Chaplain; served as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons 2010–2019
  • Oliver Lyseight, founder of one of Britain's largest black majority churches, and spiritual leader to the "Windrush generation"
  • Neville Neil, bishop of the Moravian Church in Jamaica

Science and medicine

  • Evan Dale Abel, Jamaican-born endocrinologist
  • Maydianne Andrade, Jamaican-born Canadian ecologist
  • Simone Badal-McCreath, Jamaican chemist and cancer researcher
  • Walt Braithwaite, Jamaican-born American engineer and former executive at Boeing
  • Aggrey Burke, Jamaican-born psychiatrist and the first black consultant psychiatrist appointed by Britain's National Health Service (NHS)
  • Nira Chamberlain, first black mathematician to join the exclusive list of distinguish living British mathematicians who feature in the biographical reference book Who's Who; creator of a mathematical cost capability trade-off model for HMS Queen Elizabeth
  • Paul R. Cunningham, Jamaican-born surgeon and medical educator
  • Patricia Daley, Jamaican-born British human geographer and academic
  • Patricia DeLeon, Jamaican reproductive geneticist who specialists in the male reproductive system
  • Tashni-Ann Dubroy, Jamaican science academic and university administrator in the United States
  • Kevin Fenton, epidemiologist and a regional director at Public Health England
  • Yvette Francis-McBarnette, Jamaican-born paediatrician
  • Bertram Fraser-Reid, Jamaican synthetic organic chemist
  • Neil Gardner, Jamaican chiropractic neurologist, former athlete
  • Thomas J. Goreau, Jamaican biogeochemist and marine biologist
  • Philip Henry Gosse, English naturalist in Jamaica
  • Neil Hanchard, Jamaican physician and clinical investigator
  • Odette Harris, Jamaican-born professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University and the Director of the Brain Injury Program for the Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Richard Hill, lawyer, naturalist
  • Jacqueline Hughes-Oliver, Jamaican-born statistician
  • Hedley Jones, Jamaican audio engineer and astronomer
  • Thomas Lecky, Jamaican scientist who developed several new breeds of cattle
  • Elsa Leo-Rhynie, Jamaican science academic
  • Henry Lowe, Jamaican scientist, philanthropist and businessman
  • Camille McKayle, Jamaican-born mathematician
  • Harold Moody, Jamaican physician
  • Ludlow Moody, Jamaican physician
  • Errol Morrison, Jamaican scientist who has carried out pioneering work in the field of diabetes
  • Karen E. Nelson, Jamaican-born American microbiologist
  • Geoff Palmer, Jamaican-born scientist
  • Donald Richards, statistician
  • Mercedes Richards, Jamaican-born pioneering astronomy and astrophysics professor
  • Robert Robinson, Jamaican-born engineer
  • Mary Seacole, Jamaican-born woman of Scottish and Creole descent who set up a "British hotel" behind the lines during the Crimean War
  • Jean Springer, Jamaican mathematics professor
  • Garth Taylor, Jamaican ophthalmologist, professor, and humanitarian
  • Manley West, Jamaican pharmacologist who developed a treatment for glaucoma
  • Cicely Williams, identified the protein deficiency disease kwashiorkor
  • Henry Vernon Wong, Jamaican-American physicist known for his work in plasma physics

Sports

  • Maurice Ashley, Chess Player, Jamaican-born American chess grandmaster
  • Alia Atkinson, OD, multiple time Olympic swimmer
  • Donovan Bailey, Jamaican-born Canadian, world champion sprinter
  • Leon Bailey, Jamaican footballer playing for Aston Villa FC
  • John Barnes, Jamaican-born English football player; played for the England national football team and Liverpool F.C.
  • Trevor Berbick, champion boxer
  • Atari Bigby, former football player
  • Andre Blake, professional MLS goalkeeper
  • Yohan Blake, sprinter
  • Usain Bolt, world and Olympic record holder, 100m and 200m
  • Walter Boyd, former professional footballer
  • Steve Bucknor, international cricket umpire
  • Veronica Campbell-Brown, sprinter
  • Alicia Ashley, former women's boxing champion
  • Omar Cummings, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Chili Davis, Jamaican-born American, former star Major League Baseball player
  • Leon Edwards, Jamaican-born, British mixed martial artist and UFC welterweight champion
  • Patrick Ewing, Jamaican-born American, former NBA star
  • Junior Flemmings, professional footballer
  • Heather Foster, Jamaican-born American professional bodybuilder
  • Shaun Francis, former professional footballer
  • Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, sprinter, 100m and 200m World and Olympic record holder (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), fondly known as "The Pocket Rocket"
  • Ricardo Fuller, Jamaican-born Premier League and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Ricardo Gardner, Jamaican-born Premier League and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Chris Gayle, Captain of West Indian International Cricket Team
  • Ian Goodison, former professional footballer
  • Owayne Gordon, professional footballer
  • George Headley, cricketer
  • Sek Henry, basketball player
  • Wavell Hinds, cricketer
  • Michael Holding, cricketer
  • Shericka Jackson, Olympic medalist
  • Kamara James, Jamaican-born American, Olympic fencer
  • Ben Johnson, Jamaican-born Canadian, disgraced champion sprinter
  • Glen Johnson, champion boxer
  • Ryan Johnson, former professional footballer
  • Jerome Jordan, NBA player, New York Knicks center #44
  • Andrew Kennedy, professional basketball player
  • Brynton Lemar (born 1995), American-born Jamaican basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League
  • Rajiv Maragh, jockey
  • Tyrone Marshall, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Darren Mattocks, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Mike McCallum, champion boxer
  • Oshane Nation, FIFA football referee
  • Merlene Ottey, Jamaican-born Slovenian sprinter, the world's most winning female athlete
  • Asafa Powell, sprinter, former 100m world record holder
  • Donald Quarrie, sprinter
  • Shawn Rhoden, bodybuilder
  • Sanya Richards-Ross, Jamaican-born American sprinter, 400m
  • Donovan Ricketts, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Tessa Sanderson, Jamaican-born former British Javelin gold medalist and Heptathlon
  • Trecia-Kaye Smith, former Triple Jump World Champion
  • Raheem Sterling, Jamaican-born English football player; currently plays for Chelsea FC
  • Shavar Thomas, Jamaican-born MLS and Jamaica national football team football player
  • Elaine Thompson-Herah, OD, multiple Olympic champion
  • Stephen Tulloch, National Football League middle linebacker for Detroit Lions and N.C. State Wolfpac; born in Miami of Jamaican heritage
  • Peter-Lee Vassell, professional footballer
  • Melaine Walker, sprinter, 400m Olympic record holder (Beijing 2008)
  • Courtney Walsh, cricketer
  • Nicholas Walters, professional boxer, former WBA (Super) World Featherweight champion
  • Devon White, baseball player
  • Theodore Whitmore, former professional footballer, coach
  • Arthur Wint, OD MBE, Olympic former 400m gold medalist

Others

  • Diane Abbott, first female member of the African-Caribbean community to be elected to the UK House of Commons in 1987
  • Hope Arthurine Anderson, national chess champion and Olympian
  • Emily Rose Bleby (1849–1917), temperance reformer
  • Violet Brown, oldest Jamaican in history
  • Dawn Butler, Labour MP since 2015; became first black woman to speak from the despatch box in the House of Commons in December 2009
  • Alan Eyre, geographer and environmentalist
  • Michael Fuller, Britain's first black Police Chief Constable and Chief Inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service
  • Marcus Garvey, founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
  • St. William Grant, trade unionist and activist
  • Henry Gunter, civil rights campaigner, trade unionist and the first black delegate to be elected to the Birmingham Trades Council
  • Stuart Hall, cultural theorist, political activist and co-founder of New Left Review
  • Rosalea Hamilton, Jamaican academic, trade policy specialist
  • Thomas Duffus Hardy, archivist and antiquary
  • Donald J. Harris, economist
  • Lenford "Steve" Harvey, AIDS activist
  • Barrington Irving, pilot who previously held the record for the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world solo
  • Baroness Lawrence, campaigner
  • Ian McKnight, founder of Jamaica AIDS Support for LIFE
  • Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union 1992–2003, black leader of a major British trade union
  • Colin Powell, politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State 2001–2005; first African-American Secretary of State
  • Roxroy Salmon, Jamaican-American immigration activist
  • Oliver Samuels, comedian and actor
  • Norma Shirley, Jamaican chef
  • Tony Simpson, businessman and broadcaster

See also

  • List of Jamaican British people
  • List of Jamaican Americans
  • List of Jamaican Jews

References