Trevor Taylor

Trevor Oliver Taylor (January 11, 1958, Montego Bay, Jamaica — January 19, 2008, Cologne, Germany) was a Jamaican-German singer, musician, music producer, and songwriter. His stage name was Supa T. He is best known as the first leading vocalist of the German band Bad Boys Blue.

Early years

Trevor Taylor was born in 1958 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. At the age of 14, Taylor visited England for the first time. Besides music, young Trevor was interested in cooking, power lifting, and football. Trevor was a true rastaman, and his idol was Bob Marley. At the beginning of his career, Trevor played bass guitar in the British reggae band UB40 and also was a singer in little-known groups in Seychelles. In 1978, Trevor worked as a chef in a restaurant "Holiday Inn" in Birmingham, and then—in Cologne restaurant "Stummel".

Bad Boys Blue

In 1984, Trevor Taylor joined the new group Bad Boys Blue. The song "You're A Woman" that he performed was a real success for the band, instantly reaching Top 10 in many European music charts. In Germany, the single peaked at #8 and did not leave the German Top 20 for four months. In the same year, Bad Boys Blue released their first studio album, Hot Girls, Bad Boys. Trevor Taylor was a leading vocalist in most songs (except "L.O.V.E. In My Car"). He later performed all the compositions for the band's second album,Heartbeat.

In 1987, while recording the single "Come Back And Stay", producers Tony Hendrik and Karin van Haaren decided to change the lead singer, and John McInerney became the permanent front person. These changes led to tensions within the group, so Taylor gradually phased out his presence and in 1989 left the team forever to pursue a solo career.

After leaving Bad Boys Blue

After leaving the group, Trevor tried to act in films and participated in various musical projects—from trance to reggae. In 1990, the reggae project Street Noise released the single "Our Problem", where Trevor Taylor was the leading vocalist. In 1991, Trevor was a member of the band Temper Temper as a guitarist. For several years Trevor was a producer and vocalist in the German reggae band Umoya, which released three albums and six singles.

Since 1995, under the pseudonym Supa T, Taylor began recording with the band The Party Animals, releasing singles "My Dog", "Gotta Jump", "Be True", and "Love and Respect". The latter was the hit of the year in Spain and held top positions in the Spanish charts for a long time. All these compositions subsequently were featured in his first solo album Reggae In The Pop House & Soul released in 1998 by Vale Music. In the same year, Trevor participated in the recording of the single "Harddrummer" by Chocolate Milk.

He later recorded singles for Mondo Club: "Don't Worry, Be Happy" (a cover version of the same song by Bobby McFerrin) and "Sex Up My Life", which became the soundtrack of the television series "Heiße Tage — Wilde Nächte". In his later years, Trevor performed a lot with reggae groups Umoya and The Reggae Cracks. He also planned to release his second solo album, Second Life.

Trevor Taylor, aged 50, died of a heart attack at a hospital in Cologne. His second solo album is still officially unreleased.