Early life and career Joseph Hill was born in 1949 in
Linstead, a town in
Saint Catherine Parish in the southeast of
Jamaica. Within two years he was making his own musical instruments. In the early 70s Hill performed with two groups that included future reggae star Glen Washington: C35 Incorporated and Stepping Stone. He performed regularly on the hotel circuit, but had his greatest success with the group Culture.
Culture Hill formed Culture in 1976, and had early success with the prophetic "Two Sevens Clash", predicting apocalypse on 7 July 1977. The record was hugely popular on the emerging
punk rock scene in England, heavily influencing
The Clash,
John Lydon and
Public Image. During the 1970s the group had a string of highly successful singles for producers Joe Gibbs and Sonia Pottinger including the song "Two Sevens Clash" which made its mark on both Jamaica and the United Kingdom. It was named by
Rolling Stone magazine in 2002 as one of the "50 Coolest Records", the only single artist reggae album to make the list. The group also had a hit with "Stop Fussing and Fighting", a song that addressed the chaotic political climate of the late 1970s and the attempt on
Bob Marley's life. Joseph Hill and Culture developed a reputation as a performing group after a performance at the One Love Peace Concert in 1978, and was soon regularly touring the United States, Europe and Africa. In recent years the group continued to perform at least one hundred concerts each year, with Hill's wife Pauline as road manager. Hill was a presence on stage: part DJ as he directed his band to reconfigure songs on stage and part teacher as he commented on Jamaican history and current political issues. In his lyrics, Hill often explored how the legacy of slavery continued to have an influence on Jamaican citizens. Hill had received a number of honours; an induction into the Jamaican Reggae Walk of Fame and a 2005 Independence Award presented by the
Prime Minister of Jamaica. In 2005 he received the Culture Shock Bronze Medal in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican music. As a member of the
Rastafari movement, Joseph Hill was a worshipper of emperor
Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. Indeed, Hill's honorific/nickname, "Keeper of Zion Gate" reflects his position as one of reggae's and Rastafari's greatest voices.
Death Joseph Hill died on a tour, after collapsing on stage in Berlin, Germany, before Culture entered the
Berlin tour on 19 August 2006. At his funeral in September 2006, Hill was eulogised by, amongst others, Jamaican Prime Minister
Portia Simpson Miller who recognised his contributions to Jamaican culture. His son Kenyatta subsequently took over his role in Culture. ==Solo discography==