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When Hurricane Melissa made history as the strongest storm ever to make landfall in Jamaica, the island nation\u2019s biggest stars immediately sprang into action to help provide relief to their home\u2019s most devastated areas. Now, led by Sean Paul, Shaggy and Kes, several of the Caribbean\u2019s brightest stars have teamed up for a massive benefit concert to further support relief efforts.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
More from Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis is more than a concert \u2014 it\u2019s a movement,\u201d Jammins Events organizer George Crooks said in a statement.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>,\u00a0Beenie Man<\/a>,\u00a0Sean Paul<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Spice<\/a>\u00a0have all documented their respective relief efforts via their social media channels.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Shaggy spoke with Billboard<\/a> about the destruction he witnessed in the days immediately following Melissa\u2019s landfall. \u201cWe 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,\u201d the reggae icon said. \u201cWe 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\u2019t livable anymore. Nobody could stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n UBS Arena is a worthy venue for the benefit concert, given its connection to New York\u2019s Caribbean diaspora.\u00a0This spring,\u00a0Billboard reported<\/a> that, in under a year, New York\u2019s\u00a0UBS Arena hosted\u00a0five $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.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 Vybz Kartel, Lila Ik\u00e9, Mortimer, Jesse Royal and Keznamdi \u2014 hail from Jamrock.<\/p>\n Check out the official Jamaica Strong benefit concert announcement below.<\/p>\n Best of Billboard<\/strong><\/p>\n Sign up for Billboard’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n