Remember when Junior had all of us jammin’ to his hit, “Mama Used To Say?” The year was 1982 and we couldn’t go anywhere without hearing that song playing and hearing Junior sing “Mama Used To Say, take your time young man, don’t you rush to get old.” He had us jammin’ so hard, that most of us in the U.S. thought he was actually an American too, but he’s not, he’s a British brotha with a whole lot of soul, who was influenced by American soul artists.
We’ve now learned his disappearance wasn’t by choice, but was rather out of necessity and loyalty to his “soulmate.” When Junior was at the top of the charts with “Mama Used To Say” he was traveling the world and entertaining fans, but his wife, Nardia, had just started a new journey as well- it was during that time that Nardia was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis), which is a progressive, degenerative disease that causes severe damage to the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, ultimately rendering those affected to wheel chair and can even cause earlier deaths than the average life expectancy. There is no cure for the disease.
Junior and Nardia were high school sweethearts. Nardia began experiencing symptoms of MS at the age of 20, but she was officially diagnosed at 24, and by the time she was 32, she was completely wheelchair dependent. Junior said that was a very difficult time because he always had to travel and felt horrible leaving her behind in a home that she could not stay in by herself because she was oftentimes immobile and needed assistance. Thankfully they had family that would stay with her and everyone from their mothers, to their extended relatives stepped up to take care of Nardia when Junior was away. To this day, Junior is grateful for their help.
Unfortunately, Nardia lost her battle with MS in 2008, just 6 months after their daughter, Jenique, was diagnosed with the same disease at the age of 23. Jenique’s diagnosis is what Junior believes was ultimately too much pain for Nardia to handle, causing her health to rapidly decline:
“I think Jenique’s diagnosis tipped her over the edge. It was her greatest fear. She blamed herself, but it wasn’t her fault,” says Junior.
Nardia died at the age of 50, after having spent the last 10 years of her life bed-ridden and barely able to hear and see correctly.
Their daughter actually started showing mild symptoms of MS by the time she was 10 years old, but doctors thought she was too young to have MS, so they diagnosed her with everything else under the sun- arthritis, a twisted spine, etc.- but deep down Junior began to suspect he and Nardia’s worse fears were probably true:
“I suspected MS,” said Junior. “Even when she was very young, I noticed she had problems with her memory. But she didn’t have classic symptoms, such as vision problems or tingling, and I didn’t want to believe it could be MS. I kept my fears to myself.”
Fast forward to today and Jenique is managing as best as she could, with the constant help of her Pops, who has adjusted his entire life around the needs of his daughter and is her primary caregiver. Whenever Jenique needs him, he’s right there, because Junior renovated his home in London (which is where he is from, by way of Jamaica) into a double home and he lives next door to his daughter. Junior said “Having her own flat means she keeps her independence, but I’m there if she needs anything. We’ve always been a close family. I was the youngest of eight children. We were brought up to look out for each other.”
Recently, Junior revealed to Kickmag that his daughter is doing well:
How is your daughter Jenique doing? How do you stay strong for her and still maintain your creative life?
“Wow, I’ve never really thought about it, it is a fact of life that I live with. Jenique is doing well, she has Progressive Multiple Sclerosis and to date there is no cure, but I’ve changed her diet, she does a lot of exercise. We have a saying “If you don’t use it you’ll lose it” she is very inspirational and I am humbled all the time by her determination and fight. I am creative by nature, so for me that side isn’t hard, what is, is to know that there are millions of people out there who have the same complaint and there is nothing that can be done for them. I consider myself fortunate to have had her and her mother in my life as they both enhance my overall vision.”
It’s so sad that Junior lost his soulmate and having to watch your own child endure such a debilitating disease as you sit by helplessly, is enough to tear any parent to pieces, but somehow Junior has found a way to be strong and we give him the utmost respect for being able to still stand.
Junior is still releasing new music and performing with his new group members in the band, The British Collective, but his daughter will always be his top priority.
Check out The British Collective’s music video below…
