Reggae superstars Wayne Wonder and Carl Thomas are set to headline tomorrow night's pre-Mother's Day concert.

The Mother's Night Out event is being hosted by Rise n Shine concert and is set to begin at 7 p.m. at Snorkel Park. In addition, crowds at the first concert of the season will also hear from DJ Face, from Addies and Freddie G. The locals are DJs Bitsy, Aztec, Young Gunz, Twin Starr and China and Bussy. Female guests who want to party early can do so for free, as CellularOne is picking up the $30 tab between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Wayne, born Von Wayne Charles, began singing in church where it was unavoidable and while growing up his family moved all over eastern Kingston and one of the areas was Rae Town, which was the home of the weekly Sunday night Reggae/R&B oldies street dance.

His exposure to vintage 45s provided him with a richer, more soulful vocal approach to a Reggae rhythm track than many of his contemporaries. As a youngster, he sang at school, home, church and for his friends and wherever he sang, he was encouraged to pursue his craft professionally. The first producer he recorded for was the legendary creator of dub, the late King Tubby, and of the three original songs, only one caught the public's attention, a cover version of British heartthrob Rick Astley's 'Never Gonna Give You Up'.

After the death of Tubby in 1988, he linked up with producer Lloyd Dennis and sang 'It's Over Now', but the artist was frustrated when his original tunes were ignored by the Jamaican studios.

He then collaborated with his childhood friend Dave Kelly and together they created a stream of successful Penthouse tunes including 'I'm Only Human', 'Baby You and I', and 'Saddest Day', which was re-recorded in combination with Foxy Brown on her 2001 Def Jam Records Broken Silence CD.

Other achievements included a cover of Tracy Chapman's 'Fast Car', PM Dawn's 'Die Without You' and En Vogue's 'Hold On', but it was in 1993 that he pledged he would only record original material stating that he didn't feel proud singing someone else's tunes. When Mr. Kelly founded Madhouse and Xtra Large labels the artist put out 'Joyride', 'Bashment Gal', and 'Keep Them Coming'.

The album 'Schizophrenic', which featured a host of artists followed in 2001 and in 2002, Wayne earned the first number one hit with 'No Letting Go'.

The single then dominated Urban and Pop radio and reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop chart in America. The album then received a Grammy nomination for Best Reggae Album, a MOBO Award in the UK, three BMI Urban awards, and a live performance on NBC Television's 'Saturday Night Live'.

His version of 'Hold Me Now' was originally recorded by UK band the Thompson Twins and appeared on '50 First Dates', which starred Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. Regarding his next album, he is planning to bring one out this summer.

"My life is about music, even if I am not performing or on the stage, it has something to do with music, I am writing or something, but it has to be music-related. I don't need to have a special time to do what I do, I have my own studio that I can go in and start a project, so I don't have a special time to make music."

Asked if he thought he would have achieved this kind of success, he said: "No I just started out with the love of the music, I didn't think of the success, just wanted to see my name on a vinyl or a record, you know and to hear it over the airways and all of that. To perform and to go out there, but I didn't really think of the depths of success."

Admission is $30 in advance and more at the door. Tickets available at DubCity Records, Sound Stage, Music World and Jamaican Grill.