Musician and actor Brinsley Forde is listed among the Order of the British Empire awardees. The honours was introduced by King George V on June 4, 1917 to acknowledge distinguished service to the arts and sciences, public services outside the Civil Service and work with charitable and welfare organizations of all kinds. Forde is recognized for services to the arts. He is conferred a Member which boasts the post-nominal MBE.

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Forde is best known as a member of popular reggae band Aswad as well as a child actor. As a youth, he starred in the British children’s series Here Come the Double Deckers which initially aired on ABC and BBC One in 1970 and 1971 respectively. He also appeared in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever and the cult-classic Babylon.

He was twice nominated for Grammy Awards with Aswad. The band enjoyed significant popularity after their infectious hit Don’t Turn Around climbed to number one (UK) in 1988. The band frequently collaborated with top acts, resulting in contributions to projects by Burning Spear, Dennis Brown and The Wailers.

Forde along with Angus Gaye, Donald Griffiths, George Oban, and Courtney Hemmings are the founding members of Aswad. He exited the group in 1996 but joined his former bandmates for Island record’s anniversary celebrations in 2009.