Rose began performing at talent contests and in the Jamaican hotel circuit as a teenager, and recorded his first single "Woman a Gineal fe True" at age 15 with producer Newton Simmons. Rose became the group's lead singer and primary songwriter, leading the group through seven studio albums, starting with
Showcase in 1979 and also including the critically acclaimed
Red in 1981 and the
Grammy Award-winning
Anthem in 1983. That album won the award for Best Reggae Album in 1985, the first year of that award's existence. Rose left Black Uhuru in 1985 after falling out with Simpson, and retired to the
Blue Mountains in Jamaica to start a coffee farm. He released a string of singles in Jamaica, but nothing much was heard of him outside the island until 1989, when he signed with
RCA and released the pop-influenced album
Proud in Europe and Japan. In the 1995–2004 period Heartbeat Records released a total of nine albums, and Rose regularly reached the singles charts in Jamaica and Europe. During this period he continued to record and perform as a solo artist. In 2019 he released his first album in eleven years, the
ska project
Ska Ska Ska. His 2022 single "Glory to
Jah" attracted media attention in Jamaica. In 2022, Rose began performing at festivals in the US with Lee "Scratch" Perry's former band
Subatomic Sound System including appearances in 2023 at CaliVibes Fest, CaliRoots, the Marley Brothers’ KayaFest at Red Rocks, and in 2024 at KCRW's Reggae at Night Hollywood Bowl. The album ''Rockin' Like a Champion'' was released on July 26, 2024, a collaboration between Mykal Rose, Subatomic Sound System, and UK singer
Hollie Cook put out jointly by the labels Dubshot & Controlled Substance Sound Labs.
David Rodigan premiered the album title track on
BBC Radio 1Xtra. ==Name spelling==