Alton Ellis, SunSplash 93, Jam World, St. Catherine, Jamaica

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Alton Nehemiah Ellis OD (1 September 1938 – 10 October 2008) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter. One of the innovators of rocksteady, he was given the informal title "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.
Born Alton Nehemiah Ellis in Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Ellis was raised within a musical family which included his older brothers Leslie [who performed as one of his backup singers and co-wrote some of his songs], and Irving [known as 'Niney' who was a popular singer and steel pan player on Jamaica's North Coast. He learned to play the piano at a young age. He attended Ebeneezer and Boys' Town schools, where he excelled in both music and sport. While at Boys' Town Ellis performed as a dancer (in a duo) in the first show that a school director called Mr. Bailey had organized for Vere Johns who had been invited down to talent scout. He would later compete on Vere Johns' Opportunity Hour. After winning some competitions, he switched to singing, starting his career in 1959 as part of the duo Alton & Eddy with Eddy Parkins.

Ellis and Parkins recorded for Coxsone Dodd at Studio One, initially in the R&B style, having a hit in 1960 with "Muriel" (from Dodd's first commercially oriented recording session at Federal studios), a song Ellis had written while working as a labourer on a building site. The duo split after Parkins won a major talent contest and moved to the United States. Ellis remained in Kingston. At the start of his career, Ellis recorded with his younger sister Hortense; early tracks with Hortense like "Don't Gamble With Love" (1965) were still in the R&B style.

By the mid-1960s, ska was moving on and the beat was slowing down to rocksteady and becoming associated with the violent rude boy subculture in Jamaican dancehalls. Many artists made records referring to the rude boys, including Ellis, although his records were consistently anti-rudie, including "Don't Trouble People", "Dance Crasher", and "Cry Tough".

The release of "Rock Steady" (1967) backed by Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, the first song to refer to the name of the new genre, heralded the new direction Jamaican popular music was taking. Ellis continued to have hits for Treasure Isle; working with artists such as Lloyd Charmers, Phyllis Dillon, and The Heptones. His Mr. Soul of Jamaica album (with Tommy McCook and the Supersonics) is regarded as one of the definitive rocksteady albums.

Ellis toured the United Kingdom in 1967 with Ken Boothe and Studio One session band the Soul Vendors and on his return to Jamaica, he worked with Dodd, recording the tracks that would be released as his debut album Alton Ellis Sings Rock & Soul. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ellis recorded for some of Jamaica's top producers including Bunny Lee, Keith Hudson, and Herman Chin Loy. He also began to produce his own records, including "My Time Is The Right Time" (1968) and "The Message". He had two hits with Lloyd Daley in "Deliver Us" (1970) and "Back to Africa" (1971), both released in the UK on the Gas record label, a subsidiary of Pama Records.

Ellis regularly returned to England, working with several London-based producers and after spending a few years in Canada, from 1972 he based himself permanently in the UK. Ellis continued to record and perform regularly, recording in the early 1980s for emerging producers including Henry "Junjo" Lawes, Sugar Minott, and King Jammy. He also opened up the All-Tone record shop in South London and started a record label of the same name

Ellis continued to be active on the reggae scene until his health began to deteriorate. In 2004, Ellis was awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government in recognition of his achievements.

In December 2007, he was admitted to a hospital in London for treatment of cancer of the lymph glands (Hodgkin's disease), but he returned to live performance after receiving chemotherapy.

Ellis died of cancer on 10 October 2008 at Hammersmith Hospital, London. His death prompted a statement from Jamaica's Minister of Information, Culture, Youth, and Sports, Olivia "Babsy" Grange, who said, "even as we mourn the great Alton Ellis, we must give thanks for his monumental contribution to the development of Jamaica's popular music". A funeral service and celebration of his life were held on 3 November, attended by family, fans, music industry personnel, and government ministers, with tribute performances from stars including "Mr Fix It" Winston Francis, Tinga Stewart, George Nooks, Tony Gregory, Ken Boothe, Judy Mowatt, and Carlene Davis.

He was the older brother of the late Hortense Ellis, and the father of more than twenty children, including Noel Ellis and Christopher Ellis, who are both reggae singers. He was also the uncle of the Jamaican comedians Owen "Blakka" Ellis and Ian "Ity" Ellis.