Legendary Jamaican dancehall star Bounty Killer returned to the United States for the first time in 15 years after his visa was reinstated. Bounty Killer, born Rodney Basil Price, took to Instagram to express his gratitude and announce that he touched down in the North American nation on Tuesday.
“God is the greatest all the times despite how it may seem like in March 2010 my visa was revoked for what reasons up until this day is unknown fast forward 15yrs later today March 2025 i arrived in the states with no hassle the greatest thing I never had to beg bend or bow i stayed true to myself vigilant and resilient,” the 52-year-old wrote alongside a photo of him sitting in a plane.
The Look Into My Eyes singer’s announcement comes after fellow Jamaican dancehall stars Vybz Kartel and Beenie Man similarly had their U.S. visas reinstated after several years, Caribbean National Weekly reported.
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The comments section of Bounty Killer’s post was flooded with congratulatory messages from fellow musicians including Vybz Kartel, Shaggy, Ziggy Marley, and Gramps Morgan.
In a previous interview, Bounty Killer touched on how the revocation of his U.S. visa negatively impacted his career and personal life.
“I don’t even know how I survive. Most of my fans are in the US, and that’s where the music market is biggest,” he explained, per Jamaica Observer. “I can’t even get to go promote my songs or greet my fans or even my family, my kids. I got several kids in the US, so this affected me devastatingly.”
Bounty Killer is regarded as one of Jamaica’s trailblazing dancehall stars. In 2024, the Jamaican government presented him and Beenie Man with the Order of Distinction – the Caribbean nation’s fourth highest honor, Face2Face Africa reported.
The dancehall stars in an interview with The Gleaner said that being conferred with such an honor was worth more than receiving a Grammy or any other award. The pair received the honors on October 21, 2024, which marked Jamaica’s Heroes Day. It also came after they were presented with the Reggae Icon Award on Jamaica’s Independence Day.
The dancehall stars touched on how their awards were going to positively impact the music industry, saying that they were “extremely happy.” Beenie Man, 51, said it was his wish that “dancehall gets the hard-work message.” He also shared his happiness about him and Bounty Killer being honored the same year.
“It means that hard work pays off,” Bounty Killer added. “Although is not all of us get to achieve this in the time when we can celebrate it. So for us to get it in a prime time like this when I am in my fifties and can laugh and talk and shout about it, it’s a big thing. And then it shows that dancehall artistes are keeping it on a level where recognition is coming, especially from home.
“For young artistes, it shows that if you keep good character and personality, you can achieve all these things. Hard work pays off … after a couple decades. And this is not just for Bounty. This is is for the whole industry … see Mr G stand up here beside me here. I really appreciate it, and I really look forward to the younger artistes coming up to get recognised like this.”
Asked if he ever envisioned receiving such an honor in his career, Bounty Killer said no. “To be true, I never really expect this because I never saw my peers getting this. It’s only recently that I saw the Shabba Ranking and the Charlie Chaplains and a few of the dancehall artistes on stage,” he said.
“The singers used to get it, but they never used to give deejays, so hats off to Tony Rebel , Wayne Marshall, Shabba Ranks. And congrats to all of us here today … Beenie, Admiral Bailey, and Nadine Sutherland … it’s a good look.”
