SINGER AUDLEY ROLLEN TO RELEASE HIS 11th ALBUM “I NEED YOU” ON MAY 25!

I Need You, the new album from veteran singer Audley Rollen, drops on May 25. It celebrates a personal landmark for the South Florida-based artist.

“It is significant in that after 55 years of creating and recording music, this album is right up there with some of the better works I’ve done. It contains two number one songs; the timeless Never Knew Love Til You and its follow-up, Close To You,” he noted. “It is noteworthy in that in an age when almost every new song out of Jamaica is a remake of an old ‘riddim’ that’s sometimes fused with deejay music, or some kind of an attempt at hip hop that is labeled dancehall reggae, this album is genuinely different.”

Never Knew Love Til You and Close To You topped reggae charts in New York and South Florida. They set the pace for Rollen’s 11^th solo album which he co-produced for his Surface Records label.

Some of the musicians he worked with include keyboardist and co-producer Jason Farmer, guitarists Eugene Grey and Dwayne Hoilette, saxophonist Jerry Johnson and trumpeter Howard Perry.

I Need You has one cover — a reggae take on Mel Carter’s 1965 pop ballad, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Rollen started his career in 1959 as part of The Wisdom Brothers which also included his older brother, Patrick. They performed as a variety act on the Vere Johns Opportunity Hour talent show.

His first solo song, Whisper A Little Prayer, was done in 1968 for producer Keith Hudson. His recording debut actually came one year earlier when he sang harmony on Summertime Rock by The Progressions.

Rollen was part of a roots-reggae movement in east Kingston during the early 1970s as a member of The Hippy Boys, Youth Professionals and The Emotions, which at various stages included bassists Aston “Family Man” Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare, drummers Carlton Barrett and Benbow Creary, and keyboardist Bernard “Touter” Harvey.

As a solo act, his hits include Repatriation is A Must for producer Lloyd “Matador” Daley.

Since 2014, Audley Rollen and his wife Dawn Marie Wisdom have been pastors at Wisdom of Sabbath Ministry in Plantation, Florida.