Reggae was born on one Caribbean island, but today you can hear it on the radio on every inhabited continent — often sung in local languages and mixed with local sounds.
Station counts updated October 7, 2026
Reggae grew out of Jamaica's ska and rocksteady in the late 1960s, carried by the island's sound systems — mobile discos with towering speaker stacks that were as important as radio for spreading new music. Artists such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh took it global in the 1970s. In 2018, UNESCO added reggae music of Jamaica to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Reggae's offshoots travelled just as far: dub, with its echo-drenched studio mixes; dancehall, faster and digital from the 1980s on; and the deejaying style of talking over riddims that later influenced hip-hop.
Jamaican stations play the newest dancehall and reggae alongside classic roots, and selectors are celebrities. Across the Caribbean — including the US Virgin Islands, Trinidad, Barbados and the Bahamas — reggae shares airtime with soca and local styles.
Open Jamaica on the globe → · 40 stations live on AURIDEI
Caribbean migration to Britain from the late 1940s onward made the UK reggae's second home. British reggae produced its own sounds, such as lovers rock, and London's sound-system and pirate-radio culture helped shape jungle, drum and bass, UK garage and grime.
Reggae has deep roots across Africa. Artists such as Alpha Blondy and Tiken Jah Fakoly from Côte d'Ivoire and Lucky Dube from South Africa built huge followings, and reggae stations and shows are popular from Ghana and Nigeria to Kenya and Ethiopia.
Open Côte d'Ivoire on the globe → · 12 stations live on AURIDEI