“CARLTON GEOFFREY OWEN CORDLE” A.K.A. BIGGIE IRIE was born in the United Kingdom, and at the tender age of three years old, he moved with his mother to the beautiful Island of Barbados. He is best known for his molasses rich voice, and his powerful commandeering stage presence. He started his musical career in 1986 as lead vocalist with the young Barbadian reggae band EXODUS. Since then he has performed and recorded with THE SPLASHBAND, the only other group on the Island, besides Exodus, who dedicated their repertoire solely to reggae music.

He toured extensively with THE SPLASHBAND traveling to Sweden to perform at the Stockholm Water Festival, London, Toronto, New York and performed at REGGAE SUNSPLASH in Jamaica. While in Jamaica he appeared on stage with such internationally renowned artist such as Maxi Priest, Beres Hammond, Garnet Silk, Byron Lee & The Dragonnaires and many more international Stars.
The CD,”AN INTRODUCTION TO BIGGIE IRIE “was released in the USA at the beginning of the Spirit of Unity World Tour in August 1999. This album marked his debut as a solo artist in the world of reggae music.

The opening of the tour in Los Angeles saw BIGGIE sharing the stage with Third World, Steel Pulse, Ras Shiloh, Joseph Hill of Culture, Maxi Priest, and Soul Sensation Monifah, in a reggae all-star band on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. From the onset one could not ignore the dominating yet gentle and soulful presence of BIGGIE. The Spirit of Unity World Tour took BIGGIE IRIE across the USA, from Los Angeles he moved onto Seattle, then Piercy Ca, where he performed at Reggae on the River. This performance could be described as “BOOMBASTIC” and after his forty-five-minuet set the crowd was begging for more and BIGGIE certainly delivered.

BIGGIE IRIE released the much-anticipated album “Where Is the Love” in April 2003, at the annual Congaline Music Festival in Barbados where he appeared with Reggae crooner Glen Washington. This album is sure to quench the thirst of his ever-growing Caribbean and worldwide fans.
BIGGIE IRIE is one of Barbados’ most celebrated artists and is now a household name throughout the Caribbean and the US because of his hit song “Nah Goin’ Home” which was released in the summer of 2006.

On February 16th 2007 Biggie won the “International Groovy Soca Monarch” Competition in Trinidad and Tobago with his hit song, capturing the hearts of the entire Caribbean and West Indians living in the US and the United Kingdom. He created history on that night in Trinidad being the first non-Trinidadian Artist to ever win any competition in Trinidad, after so many have tried for so many years. It was indeed a proud moment for Biggie and his hometown Barbados. The video to the hit song “Nah Goin’ Home” directed by Jamaican Jay Will is scheduled to be released on BET, MTV, Tempo and VH1 Soul in the summer of 2007.

Since his big win in Trinidad, Biggie has been heavily booked to perform at major concerts and shows throughout the USA, UK and the Caribbean. In the wake of all this, BIGGIE IRIE is definitely destined to explode on the world music scene.

For more information on Biggie, please visit www.myspace.com/biggieirie