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Jimmy James obituary

Soul and ska singer best known for his dynamic live performances with his band the Vagabonds in the 60s and 70s

The singer Jimmy James first arrived in London in 1964 as frontman of the Vagabonds, a Jamaican dance band booked to perform at West Indian clubs across Britain for six months. James, who has died aged 83, remained in the UK for the rest of his life, a popular singer and entertainer who would enjoy chart success and continue performing across the country until 2022, when ill health forced him to retire. He had two UK hits in 1976, with I’ll Go Where Your Music Takes Me (No 23) and Now Is the Time (No 5), but James’s greatest impact remained in his live performances, where he would dance up a storm while singing in his mellifluous tenor voice.

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