BARBARA JONES BIOGRAFIA

Barbara Nation (c. 1952 – 19 December 2014), better known as Barbara Jones, was a Jamaican singer who had a UK hit single in 1981 with "Just When I Needed You Most".

Career

Born in Kingston and raised in Manchester, Jamaica, she began her career in 1971 with the single "Sad Movies". She had her greatest success in January 1981 with "Just When I Needed You Most", which reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart.

She toured as backing singer with Jimmy Cliff in the late 1970s and early 1980s; In 1991, she became a devout Christian and gave up secular music to concentrate on gospel music.

After becoming ill in London, she was diagnosed with leukaemia in February 2014. She returned to reggae with performances in Brazil with Lloyd Parks. Her health deteriorated and she died in Kingston's University Hospital of the West Indies on 19 December 2014, from pneumonia contracted during chemotherapy treatments. She was 62 years old.

Jones was once described as "the Billie Holliday of reggae music".

SINGER Barbara Jones, who died last Friday at age 62, was among the second generation of Jamaican female performers who emerged during the 1970s.

Jones, who died from pneumonia at the University Hospital of the West Indies, came of age in that decade along with Judy Mowatt, Sonya Spence, Joy White and Pam Hall.

Jones (given name Barbara Nation) began her career in 1971, cutting a cover of American country singer Sue Thompson's Sad Movies with the Soul Syndicate Band for Randy's Records.

Most of her popular songs were also covers: Evie Sands' Angel in The Morning and Walk Through This World With Me, originally done by Englebert Humperdinck.

The Kingston-born, Manchester-reared Jones toured with Jimmy Cliff as a backup singer, before giving up secular music in the early 1980s. She became a Christian and eventually recorded four gospel albums.

In May, Jones returned to her reggae roots by doing two shows in Brazil along with bassist/singer Lloyd Parks.

They did shows in the cities of Teresina and Belem.

Her husband, Hector Lewis, told the Jamaica Observer that Jones was diagnosed with leukemia in February. She was in London in September for shows when she became ill.

Barbara Jones is survived by her husband, three children and three grandchildren. The thanksgiving service for her life is scheduled for the Gregory Park Baptist Church on January 10.

-- Howard Campbell

From jamaicaobserver