Singer Richie Stephens To Be Honored With ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ In New York

Veteran reggae hit maker and “Pot Of Gold” label head Richie Stephens will be honored with a “Lifetime Achievement Award at the third annual Linkage Awards slated to take place on Sunday, March 11 at the Macedonia Center in Mt. Vernon, NY.

The announcement comes less than a month after he was presented with an ‘Achievement Award’ at the 16th annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival in Trelawny for his twenty seven year contribution to the reggae industry.

Stephens has had a whirlwind year since he and Gentleman released “Live Your Life” last summer. The song topped charts in Florida, Atlanta, Canada, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean and was voted “Song of the Year” on New York’s Irie Jam Radio ‘Top 100 Songs for 2011,’ ahead of Vybz Kartel (Summer Time); Mavado elilah); Popcaan (Ravin); Shabba (None A Dem); Popcaan (Only Man She Want); I-Octane (Ramp Wid ); Laza Morgan featuring Mavado (One by One); Beres Hammond (No Goodbye) and Sean Paul/Alexis Jordan (Got To Love Ya).

“I’m excited about the success that I have enjoyed since the release of ‘Live Your Life.’ Fans have embraced it all over the world and I am just thankful for the outpouring of love” the singer said.

Aside from getting awards, Stephens has been winning new fans with several electrifying performances in Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Croatia where he was the special guest of Gentleman last fall. His most memorable performance was before a crowd of 750,000 in Poland, at the biggest festival in the world — Woodstock.

“The response when we performed ‘Live Your Life’ was just amazing! It was a wonderful feeling to see the impact the song had on everyone” he disclosed.

Stephens kicked off 2012 in Jamaica with a memorable performance at the 16th annual Jazz & Blues Festival, the same night that pop singer Celine Dion delivered a historic performance at the festival. He has a number of upcoming performances lined up for 2012 (including a few US dates with Gentleman), while his current single ‘Warrior,’ has started to make inroads on stations across the globe.

“Caribbean radio has embraced ‘Warrior’ and fans are loving it as well. Our next move is to take it to urban radio in the USA and Europe. This is a powerful song that I feel will do big things for us in 2012 and beyond” he said.