BURNING SPEAR, one of the survivors of reggae's golden era, won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

The 64-year-old roots singer's Jah Is Real beat Vibes, by singer/rapper Heavy D, Let's Get Physical, by deejay Elephant Man, Shaggy's Intoxication, Lee 'Scratch' Perry's Repentance and Amazing, by Sly and Robbie.

It is Spear's second Grammy win. He also won in 1999, with Calling Rastafari.

Jah Is Real was released in August by Spear's Burning Music label and was largely distributed through the Internet.

Unknown in Jamaica

Like several past winners of the Best Reggae Album category, Jah Is Real is unknown in Jamaica. Let's Get Physical, which got a strong push from rap mogul P Diddy's Bad Boy Records, and Intoxication were hits locally and got favourable airplay in the United States.

Born in St Ann, Burning Spear (real name Winston Rodney) is a reggae legend. Along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, he introduced roots-reggae to an international audience during the 1970s.

Like Marley, he first made a mark at producer Clement Dodd's Studio One studio. In the 1970s, Spear established himself with the landmark albums, Garvey's Ghost, Marcus Garvey and Man In The Hills.