Johnny Osbourne was born in 1948 as Errol Osbourne. He has released many songs with the phrase “Rub a Dub” in the title, and “Rub a Dub Session” was the most acknowledged. He is recognized the best for his dancehall reggae hits, “Buddy Bye,” “Ice Cream Love,” and “Water Pumping,” which were released in the 1980s.

Osbourne allocated most of his time from late 1969 to early 1980 to broadly record for Coxsonne Dodd of Jamaica’s famed Studio One label. He released hits “Truths and Rights,” “King Jammy,” and successful albums like Fally Lover, Warrior, Never Stop Fighting, and Innah Disco Style. In 1983, he released hits “Lend Me a Chopper,” “YoYo,” and “Water Pumping,” which is an alteration of Hopeton Lewis’ “Take it Easy.”

Like many other Caribbean musicians at the time, Osbourne tried his hat in the Canadian music scene, living in Toronto for many years. During this time he was the frontman for the reggae group, Ishan People. They toured extensively throughout the city and released two albums, before splitting up and he moved back to Jamaica.

In the late 80s, he released the hit album Rougher Than Them which included fan favourites “Good Time Rock” and “Rude Boy Skank”. He kept recording for Dodd and released “Keep That Light,” “Unity,” and “A We Run Things”. His 2012 track “Mr. Marshall got sampled in “Jah No Partial,” which is a single by “Major Lazer.”