Biography for
Sean Paul (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

9 January 1973, Kingston, Jamaica

Birth Name

Sean Paul Henriques

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Trade Mark

His Jamaican accent

Wears dark sunglasses

Trivia

Recorded remix of Blu Cantrell's single "Breathe" (2003).

He is a Jamaican with Chinese and Portuguese roots (Henriques is a Portuguese surname).

Brother of Jason "Jigzagula" Henriques.

His parents, Garth and Frances, were both talented athletes, and his mother is a well-known painter.

Many members of his family are swimmers.

Played for the national water polo team from the age of thirteen to twenty-one. However, he gave up the sport in order to launch his musical career. He attended the Wolmers High School for Boys, Belair High School and the College of Arts, Science, and Technology (CAST) which is now known as the University of Technology (UTech) where he was trained in commerce with a view to pursuing an occupation in hotel management.

His paternal grandfather was a Sephardic Jew whose family immigrated from Portugal, and his paternal grandmother was Afro-Caribbean; his mother is of English and Chinese Jamaican descent.

Spent his early years in Upper Saint Andrew Parish, a few miles north of his birthplace.

Attended the Famous Stars and Straps 10th Anniversary and Snoop Dogg's 10th album release 'Malice N Wonderland' party.

Has become the most successful Jamaican artist of all time on the U.S. charts.

While Sean has a long history of recording hit duets - including the recent remix of Estelle's "Come on Over," preceded by "Give It Up To Me" with Keyshia Cole, "Break It Off" with Rihanna, 'Baby Boy" with Beyonce, and Give It to You Girl with Eve the new album does not rely on guest appearances. I always think its funny when people ask, Whos on your new album? says Sean with a grin. Its my album, you know?.

Wrote a tribute to his mother, entitled "Straight From My Heart," from his 2009 album, Imperial Blaze, for her birthday, and the depth of his emotions can be heard in every line.

Beat out Kanye West and Nick Lachey to win the American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist in 2006.

Is a multi-platinum selling artiste many times over, and the most successful Jamaican artiste on the international charts. He's had three Billboard #1 singles and five Billboard Hot 100 top ten tunes. He has hand even more chart entries over three worldwide best-selling albums, which have sold more than 11-million copies worldwide.

He was a skilled athlete, excelling in swimming and especially water polo, playing for the Jamaican national team in the latter. Although his education was enough to land a prosperous career, dance-hall music remained Paul's first love, particularly crafting rhythm tracks.

He became a DJ after he began writing his own songs, patterning his style largely after Super Cat and finding a mentor in Don Yute; he also found contacts in several members of the reggae-pop band Third World in 1993, which helped open up business connections.

Began scoring hit singles in Jamaica starting in 1996 and thereafter steadily began attracting international attention, eventual breaking into the pop mainstream in 2002 with Dutty Rock.

Grew up comfortably in St. Andrew, Jamaica. St Andrew isn't far from Kingston, where he was born.

His favorite music is Lieutenant Stitchie, Supercat, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Cat Stevens, The Beatles, Busta Rhymes.

Personal Quotes

I see dancehall reggae and hip-hop as fused together, When I was a kid, they were the two kinds of music that spoke to me and said 'Move!'

I've been approached by many different people, but I don't really want to be known as a collaboration dude.

Where Are They Now

(February 2010) The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards