Biography
read full storyFinley Quaye (born 25 March 1974, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.
Quaye is the youngest son of jazz musician, Cab Kaye, the half-brother of guitarist, Caleb Quaye, and brother of jazz musician, Terri Quaye. Finley's mother, Sharon McGowan, died when he was 10 years old in London of a heroin overdose.
Born in Edinburgh, Quaye went to school in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. How ...
Finley Quaye (born 25 March 1974, Edinburgh, Scotland) is a British musician. He won the 1997 Mobo Award for best reggae act, and the 1998 BRIT Award for Best British Male Solo Artist.
Quaye is the youngest son of jazz musician, Cab Kaye, the half-brother of guitarist, Caleb Quaye, and brother of jazz musician, Terri Quaye. Finley's mother, Sharon McGowan, died when he was 10 years old in London of a heroin overdose.
Born in Edinburgh, Quaye went to school in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. However, he left school with no qualifications. Before making records he took employment spraying cars, smoking fish, making futons, and as a stage-rigger and scaffolder.
His father was born in London, but considered himself as African. Although known as Cab Kaye his full name was Nii Lante Augustus Kwamlah Quaye and was a Chief of the GA tribe centralized in Jamestown, Accra. Kaye was the son of the pianist Caleb Jonas Quaye a.k.a Mope Desmond, who was born in Accra, Ghana. Kaye did not grow up with his father and only found out, in his twenties, about his father's history as a musician. Mope Desmond, Cab Kaye and Finley Quaye have all played Glasgow's Barrowlands, Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall and London's Cafe d'Paris. Finley was on tour with his band when he met his father for the first time in Amsterdam.
Finley Quaye was inspired early on in his childhood by jazz musicians, Pete King and Ronnie Scott who started off his musical career making tea and running errands in Finley's father's band, and Lionel Hampton. Additionally, Duke Ellington was Finley Quaye's godfather.[citation needed] Quaye heard jazz as a child living in London with his mother, who would take him with her to Ronnie Scott's jazz club, to catch performances of American jazz musicians touring Europe such as Buddy Rich, who recorded his live album there in 1980. His mother introduced him to Lionel Hampton in Edinburgh.
He has two children; Theo and Caleb.