VETERAN SINGER LEO GRAHAM OF “A WIN THEM” FAME, DIES AT 80!

LEO Graham, best known for the 1975 hit song A Win Them, died in Falmouth, Trelawny, on December 19 at age 80.

His son, Rohan Graham, known in music circles as Daweh Congo, told the Jamaica Observer that his father died from cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease four years ago.

Graham was from the district of Joe Hut in Trelawny. He moved to Kingston in the early 1960s “to learn trade” and settled in west Kingston.

Though employed as an auto-finisher at Atlantic Motors in Kingston for many years, Graham recorded a number of songs for producers including Lee “Scratch” Perry and Joe Gibbs.

Most of those songs, including Black Candle, were done for Perry at the producer’s famed Black Ark Studio in Duhaney Park, Kingston. Graham’s greatest success, however, came for Gibbs with A Win Them.

Daweh Congo remembers his father as “a man, his son and his guitar”. The singer said Graham raised him “from day one” and it was not until adulthood that he met his mother.

Leo Graham is survived by 10 children (he was pre-deceased by one) and many grandchildren. A date for his thanksgiving service will be announced soon.