Library Rock's Backpages

Empire of the Sun: Island at 50

Tom Doyle, Q, June 2009

The grand scheme of a gambler with a taste for chicken blood, Jamaican label Island Records introduced Bob Marley and U2 to the world. On its 50th anniversary, founder Chris Blackwell looks back at the most influential independent label ever.

Total word count of piece: 3481

Subscribe

Becoming a member is easy. Membership gives you access to all the thousands of articles in the library.

Click here to go to Subscribe page.

Click here for academic and other group subscriptions.