World of Jamaican Music

Discover artists and hear songs from everyone on the site! Log in to Spotify in this browser to hear full songs. SourcesYour Voice

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

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

Roy Panton

Artist. Ska, rocksteady

Active
1958-present
Also known as
Roy and Millie, Roy and Yvonne, The Rovers

Roy Panton is a ska singer best known for two duos: Roy and Millie, with the young Millie Small, and Roy and Yvonne, with Yvonne Harrison.

He first auditioned for Duke Reid with Stranger Cole, and the two recorded "Freedom Land" and "Adam and Eve" as the Rovers, sides that were never issued; he also recorded with Monty Morris at Coxsone Dodd's studio. Seeing the success of Derrick and Patsy, Dodd suggested in 1962 that Panton sing with Millie Small: he first harmonized with her on "Sugar Plum," and their first record as a duo, "We'll Meet," reached the Jamaican top ten that year. Chris Blackwell then took Millie to England, and to "My Boy Lollipop," without him; Panton said he told her "it's an opportunity, why not?"

Later in 1962 Lindon Pottinger, who owned the Tip Top label with his wife Sonia Pottinger, paired him with Yvonne Harrison; they met at WIRL and recorded "Two Roads," with "Join Together" on the B-side, and became one of the most requested duets in the country. Decades later the two were reunited in Scarborough, Ontario, the subject of a Canadian documentary. In 2012 Liquidator Music issued a compilation of their sides from 1961 to 1970, with guest appearances by Monty Morris, Millie Small and Glen Adams, and in 2014 the duo released Moving On, their first new studio recordings in four decades, backed by Teddy Garcia's Musical Combo.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 30, 35, which counts Roy and Millie among the most popular boy-girl duos. Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 95.
  2. "Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison," artist page, Liquidator Music, accessed October 21, 2026, https://liquidatormusic.com/en/management/artista/roy-panton-yvonne-harrison.
  3. "Bovine Ska and Rocksteady 2/25/15: Roy and Millie," Lily and Generoso 4ever! (blog), March 2, 2015, https://lilyandgeneroso4ever.com/2015/03/02/bovine-ska-and-rocksteady-22515-roy-and-millie/. Campbell calls "We'll Meet" only "a minor hit." Howard Campbell, "Sweet on Millie!," Jamaica Observer, October 6, 2019, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2019/10/06/sweet-on-millie.
  4. "Bovine Ska and Rocksteady." On Blackwell and Millie, see also the Millie Small entry. Heather Augustyn, "Roy Panton: Over 50 Years of Sweet Song," Skabook, March 6, 2015, https://skabook.com/2015/03/06/roy-panton-50-years-sweet-song, where a 1964 Star article reproduced there says "We'll Meet" reached number one.
  5. "Roy Panton and Yvonne Harrison." A singer's recollection has Lindon Pottinger owning Tip Top "along with his wife Sonia Pottinger." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 66, 80.
  6. Chris Flanagan and Graeme Mathieson, dirs., Roy & Yvonne, episode of Sounds and Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land (National Film Board of Canada), accessed October 21, 2026, https://nfb.ca/film/roy-yvonne.
  7. "Studio Recordings 1961-1970," Liquidator Music, accessed October 21, 2026, https://www.liquidatormusic.com/en/ediciones/edicion/studio-recordings-1961-1970-2/.
  8. "Moving On," Liquidator Music, accessed October 21, 2026, https://www.liquidatormusic.com/en/ediciones/edicion/moving-on-2/, which calls them "their first recordings in 4 decades."

World of Jamaican Music: the whole map