Peter Skinner, most commonly known as Blessed in the music world, is a Jamaican-Canadian reggae musician. Originally from Seaforth Town, a small parish of St. Thomas in Jamaica, he immigrated to Canada in the late ’80s, when he was 12 years old. He showed musical promise when he was a child, and would participate in school musicals and the church choir. By the time he came to Canada, he was already writing his own songs. He settled in Toronto, where he remains today.

His musical career began with him performing with the Redd Flames sound system, shortly after starting high school. He did his first recordings in the form of dubplates and DJ specials. In 2002, he received his first critical acclaim for his breakout international hit “LOVE (African Woman)”, which was produced by Firehouse Crew and resulted in him getting his first JUNO Award for Best Reggae Recording. The song charted at number one in many reggae markets in Trinidad & Tobago, Germany, and Canada. In Germany, the song peaked at number three on IRIE FM radio in Jamaica. He has won two JUNO Awards, however he has had ten total nominations for the award, the last being in 2022.

He has an extensive history of performances, and has opened for artists such as Lauryn Hill, Beres Hammond, Rita Marley, Alton Ellis, and Gregory Isaacs. Blessed has done many collaborations, including with Kardinal Offishall in 2004 for the single “Empty Barrels”. He headlined at the Jamaica House in Whistler B.C. for all of February 2010 during the winter Olympics. He continues to work on his projects and is in high demand both locally and internationally.

Awards:

• JUNO Award for Reggae Recording of the Year (2006)
• JUNO Award for Reggae Recording of the Year (2002)
• UMAC Award for Best Reggae Recording (2002)