World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Chaka Demus and Pliers

Chaka Demus (John Taylor)
Sunrise 1965, Kingston, Jamaica
Pliers (Everton Bonner)

Band. Dancehall

Active
1991-present
Also known as
Chaka Demus & Pliers, John Taylor, Everton Bonner, Chaka Demus, Pliers

Chaka Demus and Pliers, the deejay John Taylor and the singer Everton Bonner, were the most successful of the deejay-and-singer teams that took over from deejay duos in the digital era, and one of the first ragga acts to sell in large numbers around the world.

Both came up in the dancehall of the 1980s. Chaka Demus, born in Kingston in 1965, made his mark with his first few tunes and for a time seemed set for stardom on his own, drawing on the style of the revival church; his hits included "One Scotch," with Admiral Bailey, "Bad Bad Chaka" for King Jammy and "Young Gal Business" for Skengdon. By the late 1980s both careers had stalled, and after performing together informally they made the partnership formal in 1991, after a show in Miami; Ossie Hibbert produced their "Gal Wine" that year. Pliers is the eldest of the Bonner brothers in music, with Spanner Banner and Richie Spice. Sly Dunbar saw what the pairing offered: "I always feel Chaka Demus was one of the best deejay an' Pliers had a smooth sound."

In 1991 Sly Dunbar built a rhythm on the Maytals' 1966 "Bam Bam," with an Indian water-drum sample. Pliers scored a big Jamaican hit singing the original lyric over it, and "Murder She Wrote," which the pair recorded on the same rhythm, went international, reaching the British and American pop charts. Pliers had written the song about an ex-girlfriend who claimed to be pregnant, and it had passed through versions for Harry J, Clifton Dillon and Black Scorpio without impact; Chaka's verses were first cut for Bobby Digital. At Sonic Sounds on Retirement Road, working with Sly and Robbie, the two passed the microphone back and forth. "We never know it was going to be that big," Pliers said. Island signed them for an album, Tease Me, made with Sly and Robbie and issued on its Mango label. In late 1993 "Tease Me" and "She Don't Let Nobody" both made the British top five, and early in 1994 their cover of the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout," with Jack Radics, went to number one, the first Jamaican record to top the British chart since Boris Gardiner's "I Want to Wake Up With You" in 1986. Their success helped persuade Chris Blackwell to renew Island's ties with Jamaican music.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 265, 291. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 539, which counts them in the "lovers' rock brigade" that joined the conscious dancehall of the 1990s.
  2. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 301, which gives his birth name, year and place. "Murder She Wrote, 30 Years Later," Jamaica Observer, April 17, 2022, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2022/04/17/murder-she-wrote-30-years-later, on the three hits; Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 292, 298, on "Young Gal Business" and "Bad Bad Chaka."
  3. Howard Campbell, "Chaka Demus and Pliers: 'Murder They Wrote,'" Jamaica Observer, July 10, 2012, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2012/07/10/chaka-demus-and-pliers-murder-they-wrote.
  4. See the entry on Richie Spice. Campbell, "Murder They Wrote," on Spanner Banner.
  5. Howard Campbell, "Chaka Demus and Pliers: Murder They Wrote," Jamaica Observer, July 10, 2012, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2012/07/10/chaka-demus-and-pliers-murder-they-wrote.
  6. Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 291, 293. "Murder She Wrote, 30 Years Later," Jamaica Observer, April 17, 2022, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2022/04/17/murder-she-wrote-30-years-later, which dates the song to 1992 and gives its peaks as 27 in Britain and 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Campbell, "Murder They Wrote," dates their first sessions with Sly and Robbie to 1993.
  7. Kevin Jackson, "'Murder' She Wrote Story," Jamaica Observer, December 15, 2024, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2024/12/15/murder-wrote-story. Jackson dates the session to 1992; the Rough Guide has the riddim in 1991.
  8. Campbell, "Murder They Wrote." "Murder She Wrote, 30 Years Later," which gives the peaks of "Tease Me" (3) and "She Don't Let Nobody" (4).

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