Noel Ellis is a reggae singer and songwriter who lived and performed in Toronto. He was born in 1958 in Kingston, Jamaica to the famous reggae-soul singer Alton Ellis. His talent for singing was discovered at a young age, and he recorded his first song, “It Has Been A Long Time,” at age 11 at Channel One Studios, backed by the Gladiators – although it was never released. Ellis’ father moved to Toronto in the early 1970’s, and he followed soon after, attending Castle Frank High School and frequenting local West Indian record shops to pick up the latest 45’s from Jamaica. His father then moved to England, where he had a significant fan base, and Ellis stayed in Toronto, living with his aunt and uncle.

During the mid-70’s, Toronto was starting to build its own Reggae scene, which was largely based around producer Jerry Brown’s Summer Records. At the time, Ellis was performing with The Disciples, a dance group who would often perform on the City TV Boogie Dance Show program. A friend of Ellis’, Anthony Hibbert, aka Base, who recorded with his group Innocent Youth at Summer Records, introduced Ellis to Jerry Brown.

Recognizing Ellis’ talent, Brown released his song, “Reach My Destiny” as one side of a split disco 45 in 1978. Although this track did not generate much interest, Ellis recorded another the following year entitled “Rocking Universally” with help from keyboardist and songwriter Jackie Mittoo, which did well, charting in Europe as a 12” single. Four years later, in 1983, Ellis released his first full-length self-titled record under Summer Records, which included “Rocking Universally” and five other roots reggae/soul tracks. The album did not achieve any commercial success at the time, but became a lost cult classic after its reissue under Seattle’s Light in the Attic Records in 2006.

Ellis recorded two albums for Love Life Records that never made it out of Canada. He worked odd jobs to support himself and recorded a few sides for small independent labels, before relocating to London, U.K., and eventually back to Jamaica.

He worked the comedy circuit in Jamaica during the 2000’s and 2010’s under the stage name Rozah Rose. In 2015 he released his second album, Zion, under the French label Iroko, and his third, Everday, in 2017. He received a Billboard nod that same year, as his song “Dance With Me” off Noel Ellis was sampled on Kanye West’s “All Day.” In 2023, he returned to Toronto for a performance at BSMT 254 with artists Charlee, Fulla Sound, and DJ Earl Grey.