Ken Lazarus
Artist. Rocksteady, reggae
- Active
- 1960s-present
- Sunrise
- Jamaica
Ken Lazarus is a singer and guitarist who spent the ska years as the lead voice of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, and who later worked as an arranger, producer, and songwriter as much as a performer.
Born in Kingston, he joined the Dragonaires early and fronted the band through its West Indian and North American touring, which by the mid-1960s meant carrying Jamaican music to audiences that had not heard it. "Funny," credited to the Byron Lee Orchestra and issued by Island in Britain in 1965, was his first record to travel. By late 1968 he was the band's leading tenor guitarist and its leader, and he left it soon afterward.
He then sang with Tomorrow's Children, the Federal showband whose other members included Pluto Shervington, John "Mandingo" Jones, Barry Collins, Cornell Marshall, and, at various points, Richard Daley and Willie Stewart. The band was a rock and soul covers outfit as much as a reggae one, and its debut single in 1967 was a rocksteady version of "Bang Bang." Ernie Smith wrote for both Lazarus and Jones. Tomorrow's Children broke up in the early 1970s, and its rhythm section fed directly into Third World.
His own singles came sporadically: "Girl" and a version of "Tomorrow's Children" in 1971, "Hail the Man" on a one-record major-label deal in 1972, and a reggae reading of "My Sweet Lord." He moved to the United States in the early 1970s and recorded the album Lazarus in 1977 with a Los Angeles session cast that included Ray Parker Jr., Reggie McBride, Larry McDonald on percussion, and Mac Rebennack. He was among the recipients of the Living Legend award at King's House in 2004, alongside Pluto Shervington, Ernie Smith, the Mighty Sparrow, and David Rudder, and released a new album, Lazarus by Lazarus, in 2025.
Last updated October 21, 2026
Connections
- Tomorrow's Children (band)
- Byron Lee (producer)
- Third World (session work)
- Ernie Smith (collaborator)
- Pluto Shervington (collaborator)
Notes
- The Island single credits "Ken Lazrus with the Byron Lee Orchestra." "Ken Lazrus with the Byron Lee Orchestra, Funny," Island single (UK), Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4827609.
- A Daily Gleaner profile of Keith "Bumps" Jackson, June 23, 1969, quoted by Augustyn: "In the Dragonaires Ken Lazarus was the No. 1 tenor guitarist and leader in the latter part of last year. Lazarus left the group and Bumps took over as deputy band leader." Heather Augustyn, "Bumps Jackson," SkaBook (blog), January 9, 2015, https://skabook.com/2015/01/09/bumps-jackson/. Augustyn also lists Carlos Malcolm's "Wings of a Dove" as a record "with Joe Higgs, Scotty, Ken Lazarus, and Phil Chen." Heather Augustyn, "Ska Awards," SkaBook (blog), June 18, 2017, https://skabook.com/2017/06/18/ska-awards/.
- Discogs lists "Bang Bang Rock Steady" on Merritone in Jamaica and Island in Britain, both 1967. "Tomorrow's Children, Bang Bang Rock Steady," Merritone single, Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/6146168. Pluto Shervington joined the showband after stints with the Presidents and the Hurricanes, and Ernie Smith recalled knowing him "since he was a guitar player for Tomorrow's Children." Claude Mills, "Reggae Singer Pluto Shervington Dead at 73," DancehallMag, January 20, 2024, https://www.dancehallmag.com/2024/01/20/news/reggae-singer-pluto-shervington-dead-at-73.html.
- Discogs lists "Girl (Tell Me What to Do)" on Federal's FRM label in 1971, and "Hail the Man" on London Records in 1972, produced by Richard Khouri. "Ken Lazarus, Girl (Tell Me What to Do)," FRM single, Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/4501884; "Ken Lazarus, Hail the Man," London Records single, Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/3696564. His Federal album Today's Pleasure (1970) includes "My Sweet Lord." "Ken Lazarus, Today's Pleasure," FRM LP, Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2671670.
- The LP credits Ray Parker Jr. on bass and guitar, Reggie McBride on bass and as co-producer, Larry McDonald on percussion, and Mac Rebennack on keyboards, and gives Hollywood studios as the recording locations. "Lazarus, Lazarus," Midland International LP, Discogs, accessed October 2, 2026, https://www.discogs.com/release/2762890.
- Wikipedia, in its article on Pluto Shervington, lists Lazarus among the 2004 Living Legend recipients. "Pluto Shervington," Wikipedia, accessed October 2, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_Shervington.
