Jimmy Riley was born Martin James Norman Riley on May 22, 1954 in Kingston, Jamaica. His first success came as a member of The Sensations (with Cornell Campbell, Aaron "Bobby" Davis, and his brother, Buster Riley), who recorded such hits as "Everyday Is Just a Holiday" for Duke Reid's Treasure Isle label in the mid-1960s. Riley left the Sensations in 1967, and with Slim Smith and Lloyd Charmers, became part of the second incarnation of The Uniques. The Uniques only lasted a little over a year, but recorded such enduring classics as "My Conversation" during that time. As a solo singer and writer, Riley worked with a host of Jamaican producers, including Bunny Lee and Lee "Scratch" Perry, before settling in with Sly and Robbie in the early 1980s, whose production on Riley's version of Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" helped the song top the reggae charts in 1983. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi
