John Lester Nash Jr. (born August 19, 1940) is an American reggae and pop music singer-songwriter, best known in the US for his 1972 hit, “I Can See Clearly Now“. He was one of the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica. Born John Lester Nash Jr. in Houston, Texas, United States, Nash sang in the choir at Progressive New Hope Baptist Church in South Central Houston as a child. Beginning in 1953, Nash sang covers of R&B hits on Matinee, a local variety show on KPRC-TV. Beginning in 1956, Nash sang on Arthur Godfrey‘s radio and TV shows for a seven year period.

Signing with ABC-Paramount, Nash made his major label debut in 1957 with the single “A Teenager Sings the Blues.” Nash had his first chart hit in early 1958 with a cover of Doris Day‘s “A Very Special Love.” Marketed as a rival to Johnny Mathis, he also enjoyed success as an actor early in his career, appearing in the screen version of playwright Louis S. Peterson‘s Take a Giant Step in 1959. Nash won a Silver Sail Award for his performance from the Locarno International Film Festival. Nash continued releasing singles on a variety of labels such as Groove, Chess, Argo and Warner Bros.

In 1964, Johnny Nash and manager Danny Sims formed JoDa Records in New York. JoDa released The Cowsills‘ single “All I Really Want to Be Is Me.” Although JAD filed for bankruptcy after only two years, Nash and Sims moved on to marketing American singers to Jamaica, owing to the low cost of recording in that country.