Michelle Harrison-Timol, aka "Shelly Thunder", was born on February 23rd in Kingston Jamaica. She attended the Harbour View Primary and Excelsior High Schools before migrating to New York City in 1980. Known as a tomboy, and hanging out with "the boys in Brooklyn", she began deejaying in 1985 and her first single, "Shock mi a Shock" became an instant # 1 on the US reggae charts. Shelly continued to successfully top the reggae charts with singles such as "Small Horsewoman", "85 Vision" and "Man a Rush Me". In 1988 Shelly wrote what was to become a dancehall anthem. Her number one hit record "Kuff", a humorous suggestion that Jamaican women should give their men a smack on the head if they stepped out of line, launched her into the forefront of the international dancehall scene along with artistes such as Shabba Ranks and Super Cat. Shelly crossed over to a wider audience where women libbers loved her and bad boys respected her. She signed a deal with Island Records and continued her stint of success with her album "Fresh out the Pack" which included the hit singles "Working Girl" and "Break Up To Make Up". The eyes of the world were now on "The Thunderous One", however, she just did not find happiness in what the world saw as success. In search of fulfillment, she started to attend church in 1994 and after being convicted by the Holy Spirit, she made her commitment to Christ in 1995. "Accepting Christ as my personal Lord and Savior has brought tremendous change to my life. My feelings of confusion and emptiness have now been replaced by a sense of purpose. Although I wish I had found Christ at an earlier stage in my life, I thank God for all my experiences because it has helped to mold me into the person I am today". During her transition from roughneck Dancehall Queen to Christian Soldier, Shelly Thunder discovered that she had a talent for acting. This was not a big surprise to friends and family members as Michelle grew up around theatre. Her older brother, Stafford Ashani Harrison, is a renowned Jamaican actor and playwright. She made her debut onstage in "Obeah Wedding" and then went on to play lead roles in "Undercover Lover", "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" and Aston Cooke’s "Front Room". Her best performance to date however has been her role as Donna in Basil Dawkins "Same Song Different Tune" which after getting a great review by Claudette Spence for The Weekly Gleaner, "This is Thunder’s best performance I have seen. She artfully portrays the aggrieved and abused young adult and woman, without anger and rage, who grows from a poor insecure childhood to a woman of confidence and self-reliance", was revived in the Summer of 2003 with none other than the illustrious Leonie Forbes. After being out of the limelight for a number of years, (her last major project was with Lauryn Hill on the multi-Grammy Award winning album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", where she was featured on the track "Forgive Then Father"), Shelly Thunder, who was ordained as a Minister in May of 2006, is singing up a storm for the kingdom of God. She has done numerous performances, including shows in Jamaica, Antigua and Tobago. Her first set of songs in the genre of gospel were the singles, "The Race", produced, by Paul Barclay on the Katalys label, and "The Devil Get Kuff", on the Main Street label produced by Danny Browne. Both songs enjoyed excellent airplay in Jamaica and on local "Jamaican" radio in New York. In 2005 Shelly Thunder joined forces with Yankee B and Sweet Rose, (two other ex-secular artists) and founded Christlike Souljahs Recording and Productions. Since then, the “Souljahs” have been making quite an impact on the gospel music industry. Christlike Souljahs produced a compilation album with artistes such as Wingy Danja, Dunamis and Kevin (formerly known as Marshall One) and of course Yankee B, Sweet Rose and Shelly. Shelly Thunder’s hit song “Salvation Story” along with another popular single produced by Sherwin Gardner, “Look to im” is featured on the album. Shelly Thunder and her partners are proving they are a force to be reckoned with in bringing Jesus Christ to the masses through reggae. In 2006 they produced one of the best gospel boat rides and stage shows of the year in New York City, with Prodigal Son and Stitchie as headliners. In 2007 they again launched an attack on the kingdom of darkness with their second Barbecue Splash which featured some of the best reggae gospel has to offer. Papa San, Hopeton Lewis, Joan Myers and the original Grace Thrillers were just a few of the music ministers that blessed the stage. In 2006 New York City was introduced to the gospel via raw dancehall. Shelly Thunder launched her radio show, “Radikal Praise” on one of the most popular radio stations in the Tri-state area. She received rave reviews as people called in to not only request songs but to request prayers. Shelly is now working on launching Radikal Praise through the internet where listeners will still be able to interact with her through phones etc. With these kinds of moves Minister Shelly Thunder is prayerfully moving towards doing her part of the “Great Commission.” Shelly hopes with the help of God (through the Holy Spirit and definitely in the name of Jesus the Christ,) she will, using the medium of reggae gospel, spread the good news of Jesus the Christ to the four corners of the world. Speaking of which, Shelly Thunder is also a missionary who has been to Asia to the countries of Cambodia and Thailand twice in the past three years. She has experienced being in the depths of the jungle of a country that up until a few years ago was riddled with genocide. She has experienced the sadness of standing in one of the many killing fields where thousands were tortured and killed. Shelly has described going to the interior of Cambodia, in other words the jungle, where she has taught Cambodians about Jesus Christ, as possibly (apart from having her children) the most fulfilling thing she has ever done in her entire life. “Being on tour all over the world including Japan and Scotland and deejaying for thousands in filled stadiums was never this satisfying.” Shelly Thunder is currently in the studios working on her first album as a gospel artist. In addition to “deejaying”, Minister Timol, or Minister Shelly as she prefers can be found on Sundays at her church home, New Covenant Christian Fellowship, held at the Hampton Inn at JFK. Who knows if you stop by you might catch her preaching, or as she prefers to say, teaching the good news of Christ. Shelly Thunder can be contacted at: Christlike Souljahs Productions & Recordings Radikal Praise Multimedia 203.449.3408 (Mobile) 203.522.5728 (Phone/fax) myspace.com/shellythunder Email: shellythunder1@gmail.com