Russell 'Rusty' Oliver

Affectionately known as “Rusty” Russell Started his musical career in the church in 1987 as the drummer for his church before moving on to forming his own group at the Collymore Rock Nazarene Church Youth Explosion where he was the director of the 8 member group, It was nominated for best choir/chorale in 1990 at the MEDEM Awards, he was also the drummer during that time for the New Testament Soul Children, Sister Marshall and the Victory Voices, Zoë` and his Church the River Road New Testament Church. In 1992 Russell seized the opportunity to be a part of one of the most popular and successful Calypso tents in Barbados (The Untouchables Calypso Tent) as a backup singer where he was invited to be a part of the tent by manager Mac Fingall and the rest as they say is history. Russell later joined up with the Internationally known band Cross Fire (Krosfyah) as one of their Lead Singers where he did a short stint before becoming a member of the band Syndicate where he was one of the lead vocalist for some time before furthering his musical career with the tent band at that time 101 degrees as their lead singer. In 1994 the band called 101 degrees with the top of the line in musicians in Barbados backed some of the finest in the entertainment industry, from international super stars such as Skeeter Davis to top local stars like John King, Red Plastic Bag and many others. On the hotel scene for some time, 101 Degrees made a name for themselves as one of the top hotel bands in the island being very versatile in performing all types of music from reggae to soca to love ballads you name it they played it so much so that tourist who came to the island most of the time they repeat some of the hotels just asking for another taste of the super band 101 degrees. After being under the management of Mr. Mervin Yearwood for some years in 1996 Leonard Griffith, Elvis Edwards, Darron Grant, David Burnett, Gillian Codogan and Russell Oliver took over the management of the band and later changed the name from 101 Degrees to Double Xplojun, Russell then became not only the lead vocalist of the band but the administrator and the focal point of the running of the band which initialed from the bookings of the band to the financial management to the business, he then matured his management skills as the time went by and like any other business personnel changed and he was able to take the unit from strength the strength to date as we know it. A party monarch finalist he has been consistent in being able to make it every year from 1999 to 2005 in our local party monarch competitions. Rusty as he was known as then has had notable success with hits such as Big Wheels, Mr. Winner Man, J'ouvert Morning, Bus Ride and Highway Madness. In 2002 he landed one of his biggest hits to date with the pulsating Wuk and Wave, which peaked at position #6 on the HOTT 95.3 FM top 20 charts, and remained in the top 20 for many weeks. His Dis is J'ouvert was also a party favorite for Crop Over 2002, and impacted heavily on St Lucia's Carnival where he along with his band Double Xplojun performed on the road with the band JUST 4 FUN for thousands of soca thirsty revelers, he has travelled throughout the Caribbean, Europe and North America doing what he LOVES getting on stage and making people party and enjoy themselves. In 2010 Russell had an opportunity to work for the Princess Cruise Lines and to perform on a 5 month contract which saw him expanding and showing off his ability to do all different types of music from Ballroom to Jazz-Rock n Roll just to name a few and also travel the world and meeting people from all different walks of life of whom he enjoyed performing for cruise after cruise. With over 20 years of experience in the entertainment business Russell a.k.a Richard Antonio understands the importance of what it takes to keep your audience happy and involved in your product and pleasing your audience comes first and foremost, he still remains one of the most energetic performers on stage and has a catalog of original material that go as far back as 1996 to date with songs like Mr. Winer Man, Big Wheels, Dis Is Jouvert, Mud Mas and We Don’t Care to name a few, with an ambitious and don’t give up attitude Mr. Richard Antonio intends to take his brand and his music to the world and spread the word of Love, Life and music to its people. In 2014 Richard opened another chapter of his career when he went full time back to the gospel arena where his roots where first planted and release his comeback track JESUS I BELIEVE IN YOU which is a remake of the ZOE’ hit from the 1990’s and was re written with a touch of modern dancehall style rhythms, he used the catchy chorus which was written by Bishop Wesley Dear and created in his own unique style with the verse. In December 2014 Richard Antonio had his debut performance as an gospel artist with his band KINGDOM FUH LIFE (K.F.L) at an event entitled BLOCK PRAISE which was spear headed by the management of the mega gospel band PROMISE and saw performances from some of the top Gospel artist in the land including Promise ,KDB ,Soul Winners and Ricky Brooms just to name a few.