{{about||the member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians|Nora Thompson Dean}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Use British English|date=December 2012}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Nora Dean | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Letetia Leonora Dean | alias = | birth_place = Spanish Town, Jamaica | birth_date = {{birth date|1944|1|8|df=y}} | death_date = {{nowrap|{{Death date and age|2016|09|29|1944|1|8|df=y}}}} | death_place = Connecticut, United States | instrument = Vocals | genre = Rocksteady, reggae, gospel | years_active = 1969–2006<!-- per http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Nora-Dean-dead-at-72_75853 --> | label = | past_member_of = The Soulettes, The Ebony Sisters }}
'''Letetia Leonora McLean'''<ref>[http://www.hkhfuneralservices.com/obituaries/Letetia-Mclean/#!/Obituary Obituary], hkhfuneralservices.com; accessed 7 October 2016.</ref> (8 January 1944 – 29 September 2016), better known as '''Nora Dean''', was a Jamaican reggae and later gospel singer, best known for her 1970 hit "Barbwire (In His Underpants)". Dean recorded solo and as a member of The Ebony Sisters, The Soul Sisters and The Soulettes.
==Biography== Born in Spanish Town on 8 January 1944 to Isolene Ricketts and David Dean,<ref name="Thompson">Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books; {{ISBN|0-87930-655-6}}, pp. 417, 444</ref> Nora Dean recorded as a member of The Soulettes (with Rita Marley) and The Ebony Sisters before recording as a solo artist. She recorded for Lee "Scratch" Perry, including the 1969 single "The Same Thing That You Gave to Daddy".<ref name="Thompson"/> Dean had her first hit in 1970 for producer Byron Smith with "Barbwire", based on The Techniques' "You Don't Care".<ref name="Larkin">Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books; {{ISBN|0-7535-0242-9}}, p. 74</ref>
She enjoyed further success with "Night Food Reggae".<ref name="Larkin"/> She went on to record for Sonia Pottinger, Harry Mudie ("Let Me Tell You Boy"), and Bunny Lee, including a version of "Que Sera Sera", retitled "Kay Sarah".<ref name="Larkin"/> She contributed backing vocals to Jimmy Cliff's 1973 album ''Unlimited''.<ref name="Jackson"/>
Dean moved to New York City in the mid-1970s, where she married. After several years away from music she returned in the 1980s, singing in a lovers rock style.<ref name="Larkin"/> In the 1990s she began recording again, now concentrating on gospel music, releasing several albums in the years that followed.
Dean moved to Connecticut in 2010, where she died on 29 September 2016, aged 72.<ref name="Jackson">Jackson, Kevin (2016) "[http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Nora-Dean-dead-at-72_75853 Nora Dean Dead at 72]", ''Jamaica Observer'', 2 October 2016; retrieved 6 October 2016.</ref>
==Discography== *''Play Me a Love Song'' (1981), Nationwide *''My Soul Loves Jesus'' (1996), Aquarius *''Melody of Praise'' (1998), Aquarius *''Down on My Knees'' (1999), Faith Gospel Recording Ministry *''The Love of God - Reach Down to Me'' (2000), Faith Gospel Records Productions *''Breakthrough'' (2003), Evangelist *''Merry Christmas'' (2004) *''At Calvary'' (2006)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{discogs artist}} *{{allMusic|artist/nora-dean-mn0000884676}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Nora}} Category:1944 births Category:2016 deaths Category:20th-century Jamaican women singers Category:21st-century Jamaican women singers Category:People from Spanish Town Category:Musicians from Saint Catherine Parish Category:Jamaican reggae singers Category:Jamaican gospel singers Category:Place of death missing