Artist:Maxi Priest
Song:Close to You
Album:Best of Me
British singer songwriter Maxi Priest had success in the early 90s with his mix of reggae and pop. He topped the US charts with the 1991 single Close to You. He was more successful in England. He was born Max Elliott June 10, 1961 in Lewisham, London, England. His parents were Jamaican immigrants. He was the eighth of nine siblings. Priest's mother was a Pentecostal missionary so he learned to sing in church. Priest grew up listening to Jamaican singers like Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaacs. He started out as a member of the reggae soundsystem Saxon Studio International. After releasing a couple of singles independently, Priest signed with Virgin Records in England. His albums were on Charisma in the US. Both are EMI companies. Priest's first big hit came when his 1988 cover of Cat Stevens' Wild World reached #5 on the British singles chart. It reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. He did even better when the 1990 single Close to You topped the Billboard Hot 100. It reached # 7 on the British Singles chart. This turned out to be Priest's biggest hit. This is from Priest's 1990 album Bonafide. It was certified Gold. Priest wrote most of the songs on the album with co-writers. Priest wrote Close to You with veteran British songwriter Gary Benson and Jamaican musician Winston Sela. This was the biggest hit for both guys. The main producer on this album was veteran Jamaican producer Geoffrey Chung along with Handel Tucker and Sly Dunbar. You can get both of Priest's hits on this budget comp. Priest continued to record for Virgin until the late 90s but without much success. He's still around. He released an album on S-Curve Records in 2019. Here's the video for Close to You by Maxi Priest.
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