David Jackson \u00a0<\/u><\/strong>\u201cHeartbreaking & incredibly shocking\u2026 Had the honour of playing many shows with Michael. His positive spirit was always uplifting with words of encouragement and a permanent smile. Never would he pass without saying hello or a half embrace with a dap. This one hit hard as he was a staple in our reggae community. He wasn\u2019t done yet\u2026 He wasn\u2019t done. Rest in musical & eternal peace Michael\u201d.<\/p>\nMichael A Thompson AKA Visionary was born in High Gate, Above Rocks in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica. Upon graduation from the Edna Manley School for the Visual Arts, Michael received an exchange student music scholarship to Temple University in Philadelphia, where he enrolled in their piano and vocal programs. While studying, he worked as an art therapist with delinquent children at the West Philadelphia Consortium.<\/p>\n
Canada was the next destination for the aspiring artist. Michael immigrated to Canada and continued his musical journey writing and recording original songs, uplifting listeners worldwide with conscious music.<\/p>\n
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Visionary has performed internationally in Guadalupe, Antigua, Puerto Rico and the United States. He has performed on most of Canada\u2019s Top International Reggae festivals in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary. He has graced the stage at Caribana, Jamaica Day, Miss Black Canada World, Miss Ghana and Miss Trinidad & Tobago Pageants and the Canadian Reggae Music Awards. Some of the luminary artists he has shared the stage with are Maxi Priest, Beres Hammond, Third World, Dobby Dobson, Prince Buster, Willi Williams, George Nooks, also R&B crooner Regina Belle and Dorothy Moore to name a few.<\/p>\n
Visionary\u2019s list of accomplishments over the years is long and rewarding.\u00a0\u201cLook to the Hills\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(EP) was released in 2005, followed by\u00a0\u201cBrace Yourself\u201d<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Album (prod. By Willi Williams) in 2007.\u00a0 He was awarded the Crucible \u201cRising Star\u201d Award in 2008, three Nominations for Production (Canadian Reggae Music Awards) in 2009, and two Nominations for Production (Canadian Reggae Music Awards) in 2011. He won the Top Male Singer Award (Youth in Progress Talent Award Showcase) in 2011. His book\u00a0\u201cThe Hidden Agenda of Reggae Music\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>was self-published in 2012. Additionally, hHe was awarded the \u201cTop Music Business Award\u201d (Reggae Xclusive Entertainment News) in 2013. In 2014, he was named Top Male Vocalist (Youth in Progress Talent Award Showcase), Top Reggae Artist Award (Reggae Xclusive Entertainment News) and was awarded the Top Male Reggae Singer and Top International CD Release for “Grassroots” (Youth in Progress Talent Award Showcase).\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGrassroots\u201d<\/strong><\/em>, the official Studio One Tribute Album, was also released in 2014.<\/p>\nSitting here watching the 95th edition of his weekly online\u00a0\u2018Visionary Special\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0show recorded on December 19, 2021, I couldn\u2019t stop the tears from flowing as I watch Visionary doing what he loves to do best – singing, smiling, showcasing his work and entertaining people with music.<\/p>\nWalk good Visionary the musical Emissary.\u00a0 Job well done my Brother!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The untimely death of reggae artist, songwriter, author, and producer Micheal \u2018Visionary\u2019 Thompson has sent shockwaves through the Canadian reggae music fraternity and the community at large. In a video message posted on Facebook by his daughter Morriah Thompson on December 27, 2021, she confirmed the death of her father and stated that he died […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[240,239],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canadian-news","category-international-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2642"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2680,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2642\/revisions\/2680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sandbox.reggaenorthca.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}