Maxi Priest

Maxi Priest (2011)

Maxi Priest, real name Max Alfred Elliott (born June 10, 1961 in London , England , United Kingdom ) is a British reggae singer and songwriter .

Life

The von Priest family emigrated from Jamaica to London after World War II . Maxi Priest was born there as the second youngest of nine children. His family was active in the Pentecostal movement. Priest himself later converted to the Rastafari and from then on called himself Maxi Priest.

Priest first worked as a carpenter before gaining a foothold in London's reggae scene. His debut album You're Safe was released in mid-1985.

His third album Maxi Priest , released in autumn 1987, brought him the final breakthrough. The cover versions Some Guys Have All the Luck ( Robert Palmer ) and Wild World ( Cat Stevens ), recorded with reggae sound, became smaller hits in England and the USA .

The subsequent album Bonafide was released in mid-1990 and became his greatest success. The single Close to You (composed by singer-songwriter Gary Benson) reached number 1 in the US and the top ten in the UK and Germany . Priest has enjoyed collaborating with other artists throughout his career, including Sly & Robbie , Beres Hammond, and Apache Indian . The duet singles Set the Night to Music (1991) with Roberta Flack , Housecall (1991) with Shabba Ranks and That Girl (1996) with Shaggy became top 20 hits.

However, the success of Maxi Priest decreased more and more from the mid-1990s. His last two albums CombiNation (1999) and 2 the Max (2005) were only rarely sold.

In addition to reggae , Priest's music also features pop and R&B elements. His fans gave him the nickname "King of Lovers Rock ".

Discography

Studio albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1986	Intentions	-	-	-	UK96 (1 week) UK	-	First published: November 24, 1986
1987	Maxi	-	-	-	UK25th gold (15 weeks)UK	US108 (17 weeks) US	First published: November 23, 1987
1990	Bona fide	DE32 (12 weeks) DE	AT25 (4 weeks) AT	-	UK11 gold (13 weeks)UK	US47 gold (37 weeks)US	First published: May 22, 1990
1991	Fe Real	-	-	-	UK60 (1 week) UK	US191 (1 week) US	First published: October 28, 1991
1996	Man with the fun	-	-	CH48 (1 week) CH	-	US108 (10 weeks) US	First published: July 3, 1996
2019	It all comes back to love	-	-	-	-	-	First published: September 20, 2019

more publishments

• 1985: You're Safe
• 1999: CombiNation
• 2005: 2 the Max
• 2007: Refused
• 2011: Time of the Year

Compilations

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1991	Best of Me	-	-	-	UK23 gold (5 weeks)UK	US189 (2 weeks) US	First published: November 12, 1991

more publishments

• 2003: A Collection
• 2008: The Best Of
• 2012: Maximum Collection

EPs

• 1991: The Maxi Priest EP (only in Japan)
• 2008: Island Remixes EP

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1985	In the Springtime You're Safe	-	-	-	UK54 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1985
1986	Strollin 'on intentions	-	-	-	UK32 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1986
	Crazy Love Intentions	-	-	-	UK67 (5 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1986
1987	Let me know intentions	-	-	-	UK49 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1987
	Woman in You Intentions	-	-	-	-	-	First published: June 1987
	Some Guys Have All the Luck Maxi	-	-	-	UK12 (12 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1987
1988	How Can We Ease the Pain? Maxi	-	-	-	UK41 (6 weeks) UK	-	First release: February 1988 feat. Beres Hammond
	Wild World Maxi	-	-	-	UK5 (9 weeks) UK	US25 (18 weeks) US	First published: May 1988
	Goodbye to Love Again Maxi	-	-	-	UK57 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: August 1988
1990	Close to You Bonafide	DE4 (31 weeks) DE	AT8 (14 weeks) AT	CH10 (10 weeks) CH	UK7 (10 weeks) UK	US1 gold (30 weeks)US	First published: May 1990
	Peace Throughout the World Bonafide	-	-	-	UK41 (4 weeks) UK	-	First release: August 1990 feat. Jazzie B
	Human Work of Art Bonafide	DE58 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK71 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: November 1990
1991	Just a Little Bit Longer Bonafide	-	-	-	UK62 (3 weeks) UK	US62 (11 weeks) US	First published: September 1991
1992	Groovin 'in the Midnight Fe Real	-	-	-	UK50 (2 weeks) UK	US63 (8 weeks) US	First published: September 1992
	Just Wanna Know Fe Real	-	-	-	UK33 (3 weeks) UK	-	First release: November 1992 feat. Apache Indian
1993	One More Chance Fe Real	-	-	-	UK40 (3 weeks) UK	-	First published: March 1993
1996	That Girl Man with the Fun	DE52 (16 weeks) DE	AT29 (3 weeks) AT	CH29 (14 weeks) CH	UK15 (7 weeks) UK	US20 (20 weeks) US	First release: June 1996 feat. Shaggy
	Watching the World Go By Man with the Fun	DE97 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK36 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 1996

As a guest musician

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1991	Housecall As Raw as Ever	-	-	-	UK8 (15 weeks) UK	US37 (15 weeks) US	First release: August 1991 Shabba Ranks feat. Maxi Priest
	Set the Night to Music Set the Night to Music	-	-	-	-	US6 (20 weeks) US	First release: September 1991 Roberta Flack feat. Maxi Priest
1993	Waiting in Vain Wes Bound	-	-	-	UK65 (2 weeks) UK	-	First release: July 1993 Lee Ritenour feat. Maxi Priest

Web links

• Official website
• Maxi Priest on Myspace
• VH1 biography of Maxi Priest
• Works by and about Maxi Priest in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart data: Singles Albums Billboard 200
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Music Sales Awards: UK US