Keznamdi’s surprise tribute brings Earth Hour Jamaica founder to tears

Before Keznamdi hit the stage at the Hope Botanical Gardens on Saturday night for the annual climate change and sustainability-based Earth Hour Jamaica concert, he thought of doing two surprises. One was calling his sister, Kelissa, on stage for an impromptu performance, while the other was saluting Michael Morrissey, father of the event’s founder, Alex Morrissey.

In the end, both Kelissa and Alex Morrissey were not just touched, but extremely grateful, with the Earth Hour Jamaica head being brought to tears while scanning e-tickets for patrons to enter the event.

Michael Morrissey passed on July 17, 2024, just two days following the anniversary of Esirom, which has been the organiser of Earth Hour since its inception 10 years ago. Alex Morrissey told Keznamdi during rehearsals for the show that this staging of the event was an emotional one for him, because it was at last year’s staging of the event, that he last saw his father looking the healthiest.

“I was at the ticket booth shedding some tears and people were asking me what [was] wrong, thinking something was wrong with their tickets. I almost had no words. He was 79 [years old] but no joke, if we had a race, him could beat me every time. He was the fittest person I knew. Losing him was very unexpected and I remember when he was here last time, we had a lot of different activities as we do every year, but we made a bowling alley, and he was very fond of that in particular because he was always speaking of Jamaicans needing to be exposed to things that are not really accessible to them locally,” Alex Morrissey told The Gleaner during an interview after Keznamdi’s tribute.

That sustainable bowling alley was made out of recycled material and wood, which Michael Morrissey was pleased to witness.

“He was very proud of the initiative, and I did get that tap on my shoulder, and he did say that he’s a proud father and he could see all of the work over the years. [It’s] a very emotional Earth Hour for me, because he was the one person in my family who I could talk to about anything business-related, and he actually took the time to understand, and, for Kez to do that, I had to find him right after and show my appreciation,” Alex Morrissey said.

Kelissa performed her single The Best Kept Secret which she also refers to as Locked Away, which Keznamdi asked her to perform after calling her on stage before the 8,000 patrons, some of whom were comfortably seated and waiting on the lawns.

“I felt good that he called me on stage. I give thanks! Mi love stage. I like to perform. I don’t really look to that [the reception of the audience]. I just mek sure that I’m doing the best that I can, and that I’m fulljoying the music, so the kind of artiste that I am, I’m not looking for forward necessarily unless mi draw fi mi little DJ set,” Kelissa said.

“She’s a songbird. A long time dem girl ya nuh perform. It hard fi draw out dem girl ya. And, mi did affi mek sure seh she forward, because the Jamaican people love her, and, as you can see, the [positive] reception that she got,” Keznamdi added about his older sister. The two are two years apart in age.

Kelissa, who is gearing up to release her second album this year, already has other major singles such as Gideon and Spellbound.

For his part, Keznamdi also performed hit singles such as Pressure, while hitting out against the 1,000 or 6.7 per cent increase in which minimum wage.

Hitting the stage for his third Earth Hour Jamaica performance, Keznamdi began his set with his single Time, in honour of Michael Morrissey, because he said he wanted to remind the audience that “one thing we certain about [in] life, is that all of us are going to die, but the only uncertainty is that you don’t know when”.

Also performing at the event were Zaila-Jazz, Irie Souljah, Sevana and Luciano.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com