Exclusive: Superstar Beres Hammond surprises his biggest fan

One of Beres Hammond’s biggest fans got the shock of her life yesterday when her friends arranged a surprise meeting with the reggae star at his hotel.

“This is the surprise of a lifetime! I will never, ever forget this,” exclaimed Tammy Richardson as she met her hero.  A maths lecturer at Bermuda College, Ms Richardson has been to every concert the former chart-topper has performed in Bermuda and can’t wait for his pre-Cup Match gig in the city tonight. 

Bermuda Sun was there

But she would never have believed she’d get meet him in person the day before the show.

The get-together was made possible by one of the concert organizers, Declan Harris of Veterans in Action, who was approached by Ms Richardson’s friend Tina Douke.

And the Bermuda Sun was the only news outlet on hand to capture the moment.

Lunching with friends at the Fairmont Southampton yesterday afternoon, Ms Richardson was approached by a hotel worker who, to keep the surprise a secret, told her that as their 500th guest of the day, she had won a weekend’s stay at the hotel. She invited Ms Richardson and her friends Nicole Grant and Lisa Marshall to “view the suites”.

As she walked into the room, she set eyes on the star, gasped and burst into tears.

“Oh my gosh!” she said. “I’m pleased to meet you! I told everyone in Bermuda that you are my man!” To which Mr Hammond laughed.

We entered the seating area and sat down to talk and take pictures.

 “I can’t believe it is happening,” Ms Richardson said. “I had no idea — I thought I had won the (hotel) promo. This is a thousand, no a million times better.

“I love his music, I love his lyrics and love his songs and whenever I go to a party and he’s playing I’ll be the only person on the floor. I’ve been like this for about 20 years. And of course I have my tickets for Wednesday night.”

The experience was new to Mr Hammond, too: “I have never done this before,” he told the Sun. “I am just as surprised — I wouldn’t want anyone to surprise me like that either! It’s beautiful though isn’t it? It is really good meeting you, too.”

One of Ms Richardson’s favourite Beres Hammond songs is Come Down Father, which was played at the funeral of her friend’s daughter. She recalled: “If they didn’t play it 50 times they didn’t play it at all because it was her favourite song and Beres was her favourite artist as well. Every time I hear it now I think of her.” 

Mr Hammond said he would perform the tune at his concert tonight (Wednesday).