Tony Anthony interview on Colourful Radio 01-March-2020
Mark Bennett, aka “Tony Anthony” was born in St Catherine, Jamaica. He started pursuing singing at the age of 14, when his meeting with reggae crooner Glen Washington at a high school concert became the catalyst for his entry into music.
In his early years he honed his skills in Jamaica as a guitarist and vocalist in awardwinning reggae band Crucial Vibes; working alongside reggae icons such as Jimmy Cliff, Shaggy, Third World, Beres Hammond, Junior Reid, Jackie Mitoo, Foundations, Jack Ruby and Morgan Heritage to name a few.
In 1992 Tony Anthony migrated to Canada and formed the reggae outfit Tatix who went on to win numerous Canadian reggae music awards and gained a JUNO award nomination in 1996 for the album “Time Bomb”.
The following year he was recruited to be a member of soul group After Dark With whom he flexed his songwriting flair and his vocal magic to their first single “Took me for Granted” which became a hit on the Canadian and European dance scene. Tony wrote most of the songs on the group’s acclaimed debut album “After Dark.”
In 2007 Tony Anthony returned to his reggae roots recording two singles “Mark and the Beast” and “Yuh Nuh Simple” that immediately made an impact and won him world acclaim as both songs were heavily rotated and charted on reggae radio worldwide.
In 2010 Tony Anthony independently released his first solo album “Million Chance”. The album and 3 singles “Torn”, “Bad News” and “Love you so much” all topped reggae charts in Canada, Jamaica, Italy, Kenya, Gambia, Holland, New York, Florida, and The U.S Virgin Islands. The album debut on the Italian reggae album charts on February 15th 2011 and remained for one year.
“Million Chance” was nominated in the “Best Reggae Recording” category in the 2011 JUNO Awards and he also got a nomination at the 2011 EME Awards in Jamaica in the “Break through artist of the year” category. That same year at the 2011 Canadian Reggae Music Achievement Awards Tony Anthony won the awards for “Best male vocalist”, “Best songwriter”, “Best single” and “Best Reggae Album”.
In 2012 Tony Anthony and top reggae producer Kemar “Flava” McGregor produced and released his celebrated EP “Blessed Love” which includes hit singles “Living in Glory” and “Settle Down”. That same year he continued to bring his music to the world touring the U.S.A, Canada, the Caribbean and embarked on a European tour with stops at the Exit Festival in Serbia, Slovenia, Montenegro and Holland to rave reviews.
Tony Anthony sophomore album “Live To The Fullest” was released late 2014. He toured Europe for eight weeks performing in countries like Belgium, Holland, Germany, England and France to much acclaim.
The songs on this album continue to highlight and coagulate the essence of his lyrical and vocal potency and it’s a matter of time before he is rightly rated alongside the best in reggae music.
His latest album “Then Now & Forever” released in October 2019 has been gathering accolades near, far and wide. It won the Best Reggae Album category at the 2019 Bright Star Awards in the UK. It was also voted number 4 on the Top Ten Reggae Album for 2019 by the Foundation Radio Network in the USA. Two singles from the album has gained number one status in New York, Canada, and South Florida. “Then, Now & Forever” is currently on regular rotation on radio in Canada, the UK, USA , Jamaica and creating a huge buzz worldwide.