Music fans will have the opportunity to meet a Grammy-nominated singer in Leicester later this month as part of Black History Month.
Tippa Irie will be at the city’s Central Library on October 30. The reggae pioneer will talk about his 40-year career and his 2023 autobiography, Stick To My Roots. Born in Brixton, London he first came to prominence in the early 1980s as an MC on the South London reggae soundsystem Saxon Studio International.
Picture: Tippa Irie
He first achieved national exposure on night-time BBC Radio 1 in the mid-1980s, with the singles “It’s Good To Have The Feeling You’re The Best” and “Complain Neighbour”, before achieving a UK Top 40 hit in 1986 with “Hello Darling”.
In conversation with Tippa Irie gets under way at 7pm and will be hosted by BBC Radio Presenter and journalist, Merisha Stevenson.
Copies of ‘Stick To My Roots’ will be available to buy after the event.
Admission to the event event is free of charge but places can be booked in advance by contacting the library on 0116 454 0290 or central-library@leicester.gov.uk
Assistant city mayor Cllr Vi Dempster said: “Black History Month is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Black history, music, culture and art.
“Throughout October, our libraries will be celebrating the work of Black authors and helping to bring Black history to life for visitors for all ages.”
A list of titles suitable for children, teens and adults has been specially curated by library staff to mark Black History Month.
David Olusoga’s Black and British and Barack Obama’s Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters are two of the books on the children’s list, while Kamala Harris’s autobiography The Truths We Hold: An American Journey and Troy Jackson’s biography of Martin Luther King, Becoming King, are on the list of suggested reading for adults.
The list of themed titles for Black History Month can be viewed at Leicester Libraries’ OverDrive page at leicesteruk.overdrive.com
