When Hurricane Melissa made history as the strongest storm ever to make landfall in Jamaica, the island nation’s biggest stars immediately sprang into action to help provide relief to their home’s most devastated areas. Now, led by Sean Paul, Shaggy and Kes, several of the Caribbean’s brightest stars have teamed up for a massive benefit concert to further support relief efforts.
Announced Wednesday (Nov. 12), the Jamaica Strong benefit concert will take place Dec. 12 at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York. At press time, additional confirmed performers include Chronic Law, T.O.K, Tessane Chin, Aidonia, Inner Circle, Ky-Mani Marley, Teejay, Richie Stephens, Gramps Morgan, and Mikey Spice, with more artists yet to be announced. Pre-sale begins on Thursday (Nov. 13) at 10 a.m. E.T., while general on-sale kicks off on Friday (Nov. 14).
“This is more than a concert — it’s a movement,” Jammins Events organizer George Crooks said in a statement.
With a death toll of over 75 across the Caribbean, Hurricane Melissa significantly impacted the region, particularly Jamaica, Cuba and parts of Haiti. Jamaican superstars like Shenseea, Beenie Man, Sean Paul and Spice have all documented their respective relief efforts via their social media channels.
Earlier this month, Shaggy spoke with Billboard about the destruction he witnessed in the days immediately following Melissa’s landfall. “We got [to Jamaica] early enough to reach the people, because it took me around six hours to get from Kingston to St. Elizabeth in Black River, which is normally a two-and-a-half-hour drive at most,” the reggae icon said. “We had to chop [tree] limbs down, move things out the way, and drive through high puddles of [runoff], so we got there in the middle of the night. At that point, all we could do was pass water out, so we had to regroup and drive six hours back to Kingston. The next day, we went to the Junction side of St. Elizabeth, which took us four hours. The square itself was shut down. It was ground zero because it wasn’t livable anymore. Nobody could stay there.”
UBS Arena is a worthy venue for the benefit concert, given its connection to New York’s Caribbean diaspora. This spring, Billboard reported that, in under a year, New York’s UBS Arena hosted five $1 million-grossing Caribbean-headlined shows across four different genres. From Buju Banton and Carimi to Machel Montano and Beres Hammond, the rhythms of reggae, dancehall, konpa, and soca ricocheted across the arena in 2025.
As Jamaica continues to rebuild, its people can find a moment of solace in the 2026 Grammy nominations. At the upcoming ceremony, all five nominees for best reggae album — Vybz Kartel, Lila Iké, Mortimer, Jesse Royal and Keznamdi — hail from Jamrock.
Check out the official Jamaica Strong benefit concert announcement below.
