10 years of QORIHC awards - ‘bittersweet’ 2026 queens honoured at gala ceremony on Sunday

It is said that hindsight is 20/20 and, in retrospect, there are some things that Laurell Nurse would have done differently in order to have the 10th anniversary of Queens Of Reggae Island Honorary Ceremony (QORIHC))  unfold in the spectacular fashion she had dreamed of.

However, despite a few organisational bleeps and blunders, production deficiencies, some crying-over-spilt-milk moments and a tad bit of juicy and rather prickly backstage drama, the 2026 edition of the QORIHC still had much to celebrate.

On Sunday night inside the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium on Hope Road, it was really all about the well-dressed queens who were being honoured, and also the former queens who were there to embrace them, cheer them on and present them with their awards. 

Leading the list of the 2026 honourees was Sylvia Browne, a former music teacher and the mother of the ‘Browne boys’ – Glen, Danny, Cleveland and the late Dalton and Noel  – all of whom have contributed significantly to the music industry in one way or another. The Browne matriarch is 99 years old, creating history as the oldest QORIHC queen. Sitting in her wheelchair, she looked delighted, and was surrounded by three of her sons and other family members. 

Nurse was amazed at the number of queens who were present.

"We had more than 80 queens at the ceremony ... the most we have ever had," Nurse told The Gleaner during a brief, post-event interview. That number included the queens who have been honoured during the decade. Among them were Dancehall Queen Carlene, who reminisced with The Gleaner about her crowning in 2016.

“I was one of the first QORIHC queens and my year was very good … a better production than this. But I will always support Laurell because this is such a good thing that she’s doing for the women in the industry … she just needs some more help and sponsorship to get it right ,” said Carlene, who was also a presenter on Sunday night. 

Among the other already-crowned queens who were present were Marcia Griffiths, Macka Diamond, D’Angel, Lady G, June Isaacs, June ‘Junie Star’ Daley, Bridgett Anderson, Colleen Douglas, Ann-Marie ‘Mad Michelle’ McKoy, Jackie Knight, Nadine Willis, and others. 

A programme, or even a running order, would have been useful on the night in order to have an official list of the 40 new queens and the correct spelling of their names. But, alas, there was none. Among the new QORIHC inductees are the Gleaner Company's Janet Silvera and Nicola Cunningham, Myrna Hague, J C Lodge, Dr Carolyn Cooper, Marcia Simpson, Simone Gordon, Stacious, Jadeen ‘Jade’ McGhie, Heather Cummings, Courtni Jackson, Christina ‘Chriss Choreo’ Gonzalez and DJ Amber.

A nurse by profession – and a singer who is also building her credentials using the moniker, Mye Laurell – Nurse founded QORIHC in 2016 as a gala event to celebrate the women in the creative ecosystem whose yeoman service often go unnoticed. The consensus is that it's an excellent concept, and over the years dancers, actresses, singers, deejays, artiste managers, publicists, journalists, producers, and others have been handed their ‘flowers’. Despite her hard work and dedication, Nurse told The Gleaner that she has never been able to secure the sponsorship needed to fully transform her idea into reality. Having skipped one year, 2025, to focus on making the 10th anniversary extra special, at the end of the evening, with a brave smile, she described it as "bittersweet".

The 2024 lead queen, Jackie Knight, praised Nurse for her resilience, but also suggested what is needed to be done.

““I want to commend the dedication and commitment of Laurell Nurse as founder and executive producer for QORIHC and for continuing to do this for 10 years. I do believe, at this juncture, that a lot of help is needed on the production side overall to take it to the next level. This year had some challenges that were quite obvious, and we want her to continue as we give our support for this initiative. So, we want to invite the public and private sectors to get behind QORIHC in a major way,” Knight told The Gleaner.

She called for the “collaborative support of the Ministry of Culture to be visibly involved and move this event to  national recognition”, and pointed out that QORIHC is endorsed by the Governor General’s wife, Lady Allen.

“Congratulations to all the 2026 queens and those who have been recipients of the over the years,” Knight said in closing.

A special guest at the function was Keisha Schahaff, who, along with her daughter, Anastatia Mayers, made history as the first mother-daughter duo to go to space, as well as the first people from the Caribbean to venture into space.  Schahaff, who is from Antigua and Barbuda, brought a message of hope, imploring the attendees to let go of fear because “beyond fear is your purpose”.

Early in the programme, YouTuber, political strategist, creative director and CEO of PD Group Andre Stephens made his voice heard with sermon-like zeal, as he outlined the immense value of the orange economy, and also made a call for the Sex Offender Registry to be made public.

Closing the evening on a high, just after Nurse was given a surprise award, was the ever-fresh Lady G, who took those who remained on an exhilarating journey through her catalogue of hits, proving that “dancehall cyaan stall”. Singer Mckayla had performed early in the show. Emcees for the event were Arianne ‘Ari’ Hamilton and Orane ‘Naro’ Hart, hosts of popular entertainment podcast, The Fix. yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com