[2] Born in Saint Peter, Barbados, in 1953,[3] Bovell moved to South London in 1965 and became immersed in Jamaican culture, particularly dub music, setting up his own Jah Sufferer sound system.

[5] He has produced albums by a wide variety of artists including Creation Rebel, I-Roy, the Thompson Twins, Sharon Shannon, Alpha Blondy, Bananarama, the Pop Group, Fela Kuti,[6] the Slits,[7] Orange Juice and Madness.

[9] In the BBC's Reggae Britannia, Bovell related a tale of strange goings on in the leafy London suburb of Barnes, where the John Hassell Recordings studio was based in a residential house, in a quiet street at 21 Nassau Road.

John Hassell, aided by his wife Felicity, cut reggae dubplates with such finesse and understanding that the studio's output was to feed sound systems throughout the UK.

In Steve McQueen's 2020 film Lovers Rock, the second in his five-part anthology series Small Axe, Bovell has a cameo role and his song "Silly Games" is prominently featured.