Sweetie Irie facts for kids
Dean Bent (born in January 1971), known by his stage name Sweetie Irie, is a British reggae singer and deejay. He is famous for his unique voice and energetic performances.
Early Musical Steps
Sweetie Irie started his music journey early. As a teenager, he worked with local sound systems. This helped him learn about music and performing.
Rising to Fame
Sweetie Irie caught the eye of Angus Gaye from the band Aswad. Angus asked him to be an MC on a dancehall mix. This was for Aswad's 1989 song "On and On".
After this, Sweetie Irie signed with Island Records. In 1991, he released his first album, DJ of the Future. This album was very popular and sold enough copies to go gold.
Chart Success and Collaborations
Sweetie Irie had several songs that appeared on the music charts. He reached No. 53 with Aswad on their song "Smile". He also reached No. 47 with Scritti Politti on the song "Take Me in Your Arms and Love Me".
In 1999, Sweetie joined a UK garage music group called Middle Row. Later, in 2001, he worked with Ed Case. They created a remix of Gorillaz' famous song "Clint Eastwood". This remix was a huge hit, reaching number four on the charts. It also sold enough copies to go platinum in the UK.
Following this success, Sweetie Irie and Ed Case released another song called "Who". This song made it into the top 30. Because of these popular songs, Sweetie Irie signed a new record deal with Sony BMG.
Recent Projects
In 2016, Sweetie Irie teamed up with artists Kideko and George Kwali. They also featured Nadia Rose on their song "Crank It". This song was released on the Ministry of Sound label and reached No. 31 in the UK.
In 2017, Sweetie Irie performed on a special TV show called Top of the Pops. He also made history by performing at the BBC Proms. He was the first reggae artist to perform there. In 2018, he worked with Redlight on a song called "Zum Zum".
Sweetie Irie has been touring for over 30 years. He has performed at many big music festivals. These include Glastonbury, Wireless, Love Box, and Boom Town.
He has worked with many famous musicians. Some of these include No Doubt, Ian Brown, Gwen Stefani, Sly and Robbie, Bobby Digital, Maxi Priest, Shy FX, Congo Natty, Roni Size, Redlight, Zinc, and Ms Dynamite.
Sweetie Irie also worked with drum and bass producer Benny Page. They mixed Sweetie's reggae and dancehall style with Benny's drum and bass sound. This led to their album called Purple.
He also appeared on the Radar album by Afrobeats producer Julz.
In 2020, Sweetie Irie collaborated with Blaise and Nono for the Jin Jin label. They released a song called "Good Body". He also appeared regularly on the TV show Love Island. Since 2020, Sweetie Irie has been touring with Gorillaz. He performs the "Clint Eastwood" garage remix with them.
