Vybz Kartel Plans New Year's Eve Performance, His First Since Leaving Prison After Murder Conviction Was Overturned

Mar. 15, 2025

Vybz Kartel in Jamaica in October 2024.Photo:Scott Gries/Getty

Scott Gries/Getty

Nearly six months after he wasreleased from prisonfollowing an overturned murder conviction, Jamaican dancehall star Vybz Kartel is returning to the stage.

Kartel, who spent 13 years behind bars before he was acquitted earlier this year, will play a blowout concert on New Year’s Eve at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica, which holds some 35,000 people.

“The importance of this concert is a whole generation of people have never seen Vybz Kartel perform,” he toldThe New York Times.

The star, 48, also hyped up the performance toThe Gleaner, a Jamaican newspaper.

Vybz Kartel in October 2005 in St. Mary, Jamaica.Scott Gries/Getty

“It’s givingMadonnaenergy, it’s giving world-class because it’s a full, four-corner, almost 360 stage vibe,” he said. “The lighting, the sound, the lasers, the surprises — it’s going to be like an NFL Super Bowl halftime show 2.0… It’s an experience you don’t want to miss.”

Kartel, who has collaborated with stars likeEminemandRihanna, is up for best reggae album at the 2025 Grammy Awards, as he released dozens of songs while behind bars. His nominated album,Party with Me, came out in May.

The performance marks the first time Kartel (né Adidja Palmer) will perform since he was released from prison in July. The musician was convicted in 2014 of the 2011 murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, and sentenced to life in prison, accordingto the BBC.

Vybz Kartel in New York City.Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Johnny Nunez/WireImage

The musician allegedly gave two unlicensed guns to Williams and another man to hold for him, according to court records, per the BBC. A dispute arose over the missing guns and Williams was killed. His body has never been found.

The Jamaican appeals court reportedly said in July it would not retry Kartel, whose lawyers had alleged that the star — who has Graves’ disease — faced “inhumane” conditions in prison, according toFox 5 New York.

source: people.com