Chevell Franklyn was born on 4 March 1974 in the Tawes Pen area of Spanish Town and St Catherine’s Parish. She is a Jamaican reggae and gospel reggae singer and she was born fourth in a family of ten. She was forced to leave school at a young age of 14 as she had to support family. Chevell began singing in hotels and resorts and she later moved to Kingston.
Here he worked with different producers including Rohan Harrison who produced her first single at 14 titled (‘Here I Am”). In 1989, Steely and Clevie produced “No One In The World”. She also worked with Winston Riley.
Her first hit was produced in 1992 by Harrison Bennet and it was titled “Nice and Naughty”. From then she began collaborating with popular stars like Spragga Benz, Shabba Ranks, DJ Lady G and Beenie Man. After releasing her album ‘Serious Girl’ in 1996, she began touring the Caribbean, the UK and US.
In 1998, Franklyn announced that she had now become a Christian and after collaborating with Deejays Papa San and Lieutenant Stitchie in 2000, she then released her first gospel album ‘Joy’ in 2001. Her gospel music was under scrutiny from many as she combined gospel and dancehall. She married gospel promoter Colin Watts in 2003 after they had met in the UK while she was on tour. She went on to release albums ‘His Way’ in 2006 and ‘Shake It Off’ in 2008. Franklyn performed at the inauguration of the Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness on 3 March 2016 and she released her album ‘Set Time’ in 2017.
