INTERNATIONAL reggae recording artiste Shaggy will be spreading some Christmas cheer when he appears on the NBC’s Today Show, with hosts Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on Monday, December 19.

According to Fox Fuse, Shaggy — whose real name is Orville Burrell — will perform two Christmas songs and discuss his album with the hosts of the morning programme. This would be Shaggy’s second appearance on that programme since the start of this year.

Shaggy will perform two Christmas songs and discuss his album

He has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC, as well as Lopez Tonight, aired on TBS.

The 43-year-old, Jamaica-born artiste recently received a nomination for a Grammy Award in the Best Reggae Album Category for his eight-track digital album, Summer In Kingston, having won this category with his monster hit album Bombastic in 1996. The other nominees in the Best Reggae Album section this year are: Monty Alexander with Harlem Kingston Express Live; Israel Vibration’s contribution Reggae Knights; Stephen Marley’s Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life; and his sibling, Ziggy Marley with Wild and Free. This year’s Grammy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on February 12, 2012 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

Shaggy’s big international break came with the release of his 2001 album, Hot Shot. The track’s first single It Wasn’t Me — a duo with Ricardo ‘RikRok’ Ducent — marked his entry into the pop market and is his highest charting song to date.

Having migrated to the United States from Jamaica at 18, Shaggy enlisted in the American Armed Services in 1988. He served as a field artillery cannon crewman in the Marine Corps. His tour of duty took him to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm.

In recent years, Shaggy has been donning the hat of philanthropist in Jamaica. Through his concert series — Shaggy and Friends — he has managed to raise funds for much-needed medical equipment for the Bustamante Hospital for Children in St Andrew. To date the foundation has raised $57 million (US$650,000).

This year’s third staging of Shaggy and Friends 2012 has had to be rescheduled to January 7 due to the island’s December 29 general election. The show was initially planned for December 30. The proceeds of this year’s concert will assist in furnishing the new intensive care unit at the hospital’s cardiac ward. International artistes Lauryn Hill and Maxi Priest are expected to perform.