Passengers on a Ryanair flight heading to a music festival in Malta got the surprise of their lives when it turned out a major headliner was on board.
Music fans from the UK were travelling to the Freedom Street Festival on the Mediterranean island when they realised an unexpected passenger was flying with them.
Vybz Kartel, 49, a Jamaican dancehall artist, was heading to the Freedom Street Festival when dozens of his biggest fans realised he was on the same flight.
A video shared by OfficiallyUrban on Instagram showed several passengers taking pictures and videos of Vybz, whose real name is Adidja Palmer.
The clip was made up of several videos and pictures which had been captured on board the flight before fans eventually left Vybz, who was with his British girlfriend Sidem Ozturk, alone.
In a video posted by Snapchat user Sparky Spark, the musician could be seen waving to fans and posing for pictures, with the caption reading: ‘It would be my family dem on the same flight as Kartel!’
Another clip, filmed from further back in the plane by TikTok user @BirthM4rk, was captioned: ‘When your sister sends you a video, Kartel’s on the same flight!’
Vybz Kartel, dubbed the King of Dancehall by British and Jamaican music fans, is set to perform at the Ta’Qali Concert Area of the festival on Saturday night (and into Sunday morning).
He’s set to take to the stage at 10.50pm and keep fans dancing and singing until after midnight, at which point DJ Dynamic is set to take to the stage.
Vybz will also perform a second headline set – ‘for the first time ever’ according to organisers – on the Sunday night, with his set also starting at 10.50pm.
Podcast host Cassandra Sweeney commented underneath the video, saying: ‘I love the idea, but I’d be scared – that’s too much movement up in the air for me.’
NovemberRain369 felt sorry for Vybz: ‘Nah, they’re robbing him – you’re telling me all of that touring and they can’t charter him a short private flight to Malta.’
MissMyTimeGodsPlan joked, ‘I guess you CAN beat a Jet2 holiday,’ while ShanWellz87 commended Vybz’s philosophy: ‘Look after the pennies and the pound looks after itself.’
A successful musician for more than 20 years, Vybz has released more than 20 albums and more than a dozen EPs, as well as dozens of singles.
While he hasn’t had many chart hits in the UK, he’s been a constant feature of the American reggae scene, landing a handful of top 10 albums on the specialist chart.
In the UK, his biggest successes have been as a featured artist, with 2003 song Been Around the World (with radio presenter Zena) just missing the top 40.
In 2016, his song Fever was eventually certified Silver in the UK after shifting 200,000 units, while in America the song achieved Gold certification.
He is also best known for the songs Clarks, Summer Time and Romping Shop.
Vybz is headlining festivals again just 12 months after being released from prison.
The musician served 13 years in prison after being handed a life sentence for the murder of his associate Clive Williams. However, his conviction was overturned in March 2024, leading to his subsequent release.
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