[2] "Almost overnight he became a national hero of the order of Marley in Jamaica, Fela in Nigeria and Springsteen in New Jersey," wrote Daisann McClane, American journalist and Worldbeat correspondent for Rolling Stone magazine.
"[2] Born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago,[4] one of nine children, Rudder spent much of his early life with his grandmother, a devout Baptist.
In his teens, he sang backup vocals in a calypso tent run by calypsonian Lord Kitchener,[5] while earning his living as an accountant with the Trinidad Bus Company.
[6] In 1977, Rudder joined Charlie's Roots, a leading band in Trinidad and Tobago, which launched with help and sponsorship from New York-based record producer Rawlson Charles.
In 1988 Rudder released what is widely considered his best album to date, Haiti, which included the title track, a tribute to the glory and suffering of Haiti;[8] "Engine Room", which captured the energy of the steel band; and "Rally 'Round the West Indies",[9] which (with modified lyrics) became the anthem of West Indies cricket.