Vernon Reid of Living Colour fame

MANY people don’t realise that there are two Emerald Isles in the world, the second being the UK Overseas Territory of Montserrat.

Part of the Windrush Generation, the parents of guitarist Vernon Reid, named one of the top 100 guitar players of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine took advantage of the offer of work and moved to the UK.

Unfortunately for them, it was the time of landladies supposedly placing ‘No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’ signs in their windows and the couple found that Britain was not the ‘promised land’ that they expected.

Vernon was born in North London in 1958 but by 1959, the family had emigrated to the USA and settled in New York, which was also experiencing the arrival of migrants from the southern States who found the north much less racially biased.

As a musician, Vernon Reid found, as he was growing up, that he could mix with other musicians of different races with different backgrounds and musical styles.

Probably best known for forming the band Living Colour in 1984, whose biggest hit Cult of Personality, won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1990, he has played with some of the top names in music.

The names he has been associated with as a musician span the decades and include Jack Bruce, BB King, Mariah Carey, Tracey Chapman and Lady Gaga, whilst he has produced numerous blues and jazz albums for some significant musicians.

His first mentor however was Carlos Santana who gave him a great deal of advice and he has also recorded with Santana’s second wife, percussionist Cindy Blackman.

He was also heavily involved in the