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20 Most Famous People from Barbados

*Originally Published by Ruth in October 2022, Updated by Vanessa R. in September 2023, and Updated by Nellian in May 2024.

Barbados is an eastern Caribbean island and an independent British Commonwealth nation. Bridgetown, the capital, is a cruise ship port with colonial buildings and Nidhe Israel, a synagogue founded in 1654. 

The culture of Barbados is a blend of West African and British cultures present in Barbados. The love of the sport of cricket continues to be reflected as an essential part of Barbados’ culture. Religion and Music play a significant role in life on the island. Barbados holds music and sports festivals annually. At some of the festivals, people wear costumes. With these strong cultural pillars, we have corresponding personalities who are the faces of Barbados.

Let’s look at the 20 most famous people from Barbados.

1. Norma Miller

Norma Miller performing on stage by Joe Mabel –

Norma Miller was born to her mother Alma, a charwoman, and her father Norman, a shipyard worker, both from Bridgetown, Barbados.

Norma became a Lindy hop dancer, choreographer, actress, author, and comedian known as the “Queen of Swing”.

2. Rihanna

Rihanna for Fenty Beauty campaign by SIGMA –

Robyn Rihanna Fenty is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the United States to record demo tapes.

Aside from music, Rihanna is known for her involvement in humanitarian causes, entrepreneurial ventures, and the fashion industry. She is the founder of the nonprofit organization Clara Lionel Foundation, cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and fashion house Fenty under LVMH; she is the first black woman to head a luxury brand for LVMH. Rihanna has also ventured into acting.

3. Arnold Josiah Ford

Arnold Josiah Ford was a Barbadian-American spiritual leader, recognized as a pioneering figure of the Black Hebrew movement.

Ford was born in Barbados to Edward Thomas Ford and Elizabeth Augustine Ford. He grew up to become a musician in the Royal Navy before settling in the United States. Talented as a linguist, poet, musician, and composer of many Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) songs, Ford co-authored The Universal Ethiopian Anthem with Benjamin E. Burrell.

4. Obadele Thompson

Obadele Thompson 2000 Sydney Olympics 100 medal by Drcracius –

Obadele Thompson is a Barbados-born former sprinter, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados’ first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 meters at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He is a three-time Olympian in 1996, 2000, and 2004, and a finalist at each Olympics.

Thompson was inducted into the UTEP Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2007, and into the UTEP Athletics and Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2011. He graduated from UTEP summa cum laude in economics and marketing and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law. He practices international arbitration and litigation.

5. Odimumba Kwamdela

Odimumba Kwamdela was a Barbadian-born writer who published 14 books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and three musically dubbed spoken word albums.

Kwamdela taught for the New York City Board of Education as a high-school teacher of Writing and Graphic Arts, serving for several years in the roughest schools in the world, one for adolescent offenders located in the infamous, volatile Rikers Island Jail. He wrote a book detailing these experiences.

6. Doug E. Fresh

Doug E. Fresh at the Williamsburg Waterfront, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, August 29, 2010 by Jason Persse –

Doug E. Fresh is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the Human Beat Box. The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh can accurately imitate drum machines and various special effects using only his mouth, lips, gums, throat, tongue, and microphone.

In the early 1980s, he formed the Get Fresh Crew with DJs Chill Will and Barry B and later added rapper Slick Rick. Two of their songs The Show and La Di Da Di are considered early hip-hop classics. La Di Da Di, in particular, is one of the most sampled songs in music history.

7. Frank L. White 

Frank L. White was a professional chef best known as the model for the fictional breakfast chef. A native of Barbados, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1875, where he became a citizen in 1890. He was working as a master chef at a Chicago restaurant at the time he was photographed for the cereal box in 1900.

In September 2020, B&G Foods announced that images of the Cream of Wheat chef would be removed from the packaging. The food manufacturer announced in June that it was reviewing the packaging after widespread protests against systemic racism pushed several companies to re-evaluate their branding.

8. ASAP Rocky

A$AP Rocky by Chad Cooper –

Rakim Athelaston Mayers, known professionally as ASAP Rocky is an American rapper, music producer, and record executive. His father is from Barbados.

Rocky has won a BET Award, two BET Hip Hop Awards, an MTV Video Music Award in Japan, and an MTVU Woodie Award, as well as being nominated for two Grammy Awards, six World Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and two MTV Europe Music Awards. Rocky has also directed music videos for himself, Danny Brown, and other A$AP Mob members.

9. Redd Pepper

Richardson Green, known professionally as Redd Pepper, is a Barbadian-British voice actor. With his unusually deep voice and vocal style similar to that of Don LaFontaine, he is known for his work on movie trailers.

Pepper came to prominence when he was mistaken for Hollywood voice artist Don LaFontaine following his voice work on the trailers for Armageddon and Independence Day. In October 2015, Pepper replaced Peter Dickson as the voiceover of the British reality show The X Factor. 

10. Lene Hall 

Lene Hall is a Barbadian model. She modeled throughout her high school career, but it was only when an agent approached Hall at her workplace in Barbados and encouraged her to come to New York City that she would have her chance on the international fashion stage. 

Hall gives freely of her time to charities to help in their cause to raise funds, in Barbados and internationally, including Jamaica and Africa. She also took part in the NY fashion industry’s charity event for the victims of September 11. Her philosophy is that she has received so much that one should pass it on to those who have not had the opportunities she has been afforded in life.

11. Shontelle

Barbadian singer-songwriter Shontelle Layne is better known by her stage name, Shontelle. In November 2008, she released her self-titled debut album. In September 2010, she released her second album, No Gravity. She had some worldwide success with her tracks “T-Shirt” and “Impossible.”

12. Dennis Bovell

© Jan Prunk / Wikimedia Commons

Dennis Bovell is a reggae guitarist, bass player, and record producer. He was a member of the British reggae band Matumbi, and released dub-reggae records under his name as well as the pseudonym ‘Blackbeard’. He is most widely known for his decades-spanning collaborations with Linton Kwesi Johnson.

13. Sue Gardner

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Journalist Sue Gardner is from Canada. She formerly served as the director of the website and online news channels for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before becoming the executive director of the Wikipedia Foundation.

According to Forbes magazine, which listed her as the 70th most powerful woman in the world in 2012, she “led the full-day Wikipedia blackout in protest against SOPA.” Early in 2013, Gardner announced that she would leave Wikimedia once a replacement had been identified.

14. Edward Kamau Brathwaite

Most people agree that Edward Kamau Brathwaite is one of the key figures in the Caribbean literary tradition. Brathwaite, a professor of comparative literature at New York University, won the Griffin Poetry Prize internationally in 2006 for his collection of poetry, Born to Slow Horses. Brathwaite co-founded the Caribbean Artists Movement and has a PhD from the University of Sussex.

In addition to winning the 1994 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, the Bussa Award, the Casa de las Américas Poetry Prize, and the 1999 Charity Randall Citation for Performance and Written Poetry from the International Poetry Forum, he was awarded both the Guggenheim and the Fulbright Fellowships in 1983.

15. Ryan Brathwaite

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Barbadian track and field athlete Ryan Brathwaite won the 110-meter hurdles gold medal at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin. Brathwaite was appointed as an ambassador on September 17, 2009, and given the title of Ambassador His Excellency Ryan Brathwaite in recognition of his accomplishments. He is a native of the Hillaby neighborhood in the St. Andrew parish.

16. Malcolm Marshall

Another Barbadian cricketer who played as a fast bowler. His speed in bowling was a highlight making him one of the greatest in the category, in the 1980s. As a fast bowler, his short height was never a hindrance – he stood at 180 cm or 5 ft 11 inches. His counterparts were over 6 feet.

Better still, Marshall’s notable moments was his play with the West Indies team. He was part of the team when they secured the 1979 Cricket World Cup win. Further, when they reached the 1983 Cricket World Cup Final, losing to India. The cricket legend was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.

17. Sir Garfield Sobers

, , via Wikimedia Commons

Sobers is a former Barbadian cricket player. He is known for his time playing for the West Indies from 1954 to 1974. Sobers is one of cricket’s greatest-ever all-rounders with excellent performance as a bowler, batsman, and fielder.

Moreover, he joined the Barbados cricket team in 1953 when he was 16 years old. He joined the West Indies the following year and became the team’s captain in 1965. He captained the team until 1972.

Sobers received knighthood status in 1975 given by Queen Elizabeth II because of his cricket excellence. In 1998, the cricket player was listed among the National Heroes of Barbados through a Parliament act.

This recognition was never deterred by his dual Barbadian-Australian citizenship obtained through marriage in 1980. Besides, he received the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame induction in 2009.

18. Sir Grantley Herbert Adams

Adams was a Barbadian politician remembered as the first Prime Minister of Barbados. He served in this office from 1953 to 1958. Afterward, he rose to power as Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation in 1958. He held the position until 1962 and remains the first and only prime minister of the federation to date.

What’s more, Herbert Adams was acknowledged as the founder of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in 1938. This social-democratic political party has ushered various political regimes into power. Adams was part of the National Heroes of Barbados list named via a Parliamentary act in 1998.

19. Sir Frank Worrell

Worrell was born in Barbados in 1924. He started as a cricketer and morphed into a politician. He was dubbed Tae. He rose to prominence playing for the West Indies and later as a Jamaican senator.

The cricketer earned acclaim as a right-handed batsman. He doubled as a left-arm seam bowler. The Frank Worrell Trophy is a recognition of his contribution to the cricket sport. It is awarded to the winner of the Australia – West Indies Test series competition. Worrell also received the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame induction in 2009.

20. George Lamming

, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

George Lamming was a respected Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet. One of his well-known works was his first novel, In the Castle of My Skin (1953).

Beyond writing, the author was a visiting professor at Duke University and Brown University, both in the US. But, he lectured widely in different parts of the world.

Barbados prides itself on influential figures who have made a difference in diverse sectors. From literature legends, and politicians to musicians and sportspeople, these 20 famous personalities are but a few of the headline names from Barbados.