Heavy D

Dwight Errington Myers — known to the world as Heavy D — was born on the twenty-fourth of May 1967 in Mandeville, in the parish of Manchester, Jamaica, the youngest of five children of Clifford Vincent Myers, a machine technician, and Eulahlee Lee Myers, a nurse. The family emigrated to the United States and settled in Mount Vernon, New York, where the young Dwight came of age and found his calling in the rising art form of hip-hop.

In the mid-1980s he formed Heavy D & the Boyz, with DJ and producer Eddie F and dancers G-Whiz and "Trouble" T. Roy. Their 1987 debut, "Living Large," launched a run of gold and platinum records through albums such as "Big Tyme" and "Peaceful Journey." As "the overweight lover," Heavy D carried a rare warmth and wit, proving that joy and dignity could stand at the center of the music.

He then broke ground few had touched: as president of Uptown Records, he became the first hip-hop artist to lead a major American label division, mentoring a generation and giving Sean "Puffy" Combs his start. He performed the theme for "In Living Color," collaborated with Michael and Janet Jackson and B.B. King, and turned to acting in films and television including "The Cider House Rules" and "Tower Heist."

Heavy D died on the eighth of November 2011 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of forty-four, of a pulmonary embolism. He is remembered as a gentle giant of hip-hop — a Jamaican son who carried his people's light into a new art, and lived and worked with grace. May his name be spoken with honor.