Romain Virgo
Artist. Revival
- Active
- 2007-present
- Sunrise
- c. 1990, Stepney, St. Ann, Jamaica
Romain Virgo is a singer of lovers and roots reggae who won Digicel Rising Stars in 2007, at seventeen the youngest winner of the contest, and became the leading voice of Donovan Germain's Penthouse in the 2010s.
Born in Stepney, St. Ann, he led the choir at Aabuthnott High School and went on to study voice at the Edna Manley College in Kingston. His winning song at Rising Stars was Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke," and the prize brought recording sessions with Richard "Shams" Browne and Tony Rebel. Most of his self-titled debut album for VP (2010) was recorded at Penthouse, and "Can't Sleep," "Wanna Go Home (Rain Is Falling)" and "Murderer" were early hits, the first a Jamaican number one.
The System (2012), on which Patrick Taylor heard "equal parts Gregory Isaacs and Marvin Gaye in his voice," reached number six on the Billboard reggae albums chart and Lovesick (2018) went to number one; The Gentleman (2024), his fourth album, was made with producers including Don Corleon, Winta James and Romeich Major. He also sang on The Reggae Power (2014), the Grammy-nominated album Sly and Robbie made with Japan's Spicy Chocolate.
Last updated November 5, 2026
Connections
- Donovan Germain (producer)
- Tony Rebel (producer)
- Winta James (producer)
- Sly Dunbar (collaborator)
- Robbie Shakespeare (collaborator)
- Penthouse (studio)
Notes
- "Romain Virgo," biography, Go-Jamaica, accessed October 21, 2026, https://go-jamaica.com/chat/biography-rvirgo.html, written when he was twenty.
- "Romain Virgo," biography. On the release year, Kevin Jackson, "Romain Virgo Taps into New Audiences with The Gentleman," Jamaica Observer, April 3, 2024, https://jamaicaobserver.com/2024/04/03/romain-virgo-taps-into-new-audiences-with-the-gentleman.
- Patrick Taylor, "Romain Virgo: The System," RapReviews, June 2012, https://www.rapreviews.com/2012/06/romain-virgo-the-system.
- Jackson, "Romain Virgo Taps into New Audiences." "Romain Virgo, T.O.K. to Get Grammy Certs," Jamaica Observer, August 18, 2025, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/08/18/romain-virgo-t-o-k-get-grammy-certs/.
