Duane Forrest is a Jamaican-Canadian singer-songwriter, playwright, and multimedia artist based in Toronto. Over the past decade, he has released two full-length albums and toured extensively across Canada, Europe, Central America, Asia, Australia, and the United States. His music has received international radio play in countries including Canada, Germany, Honduras, Iceland, Italy, Nicaragua, and the U.S.

Duane’s interdisciplinary work blends live music, storytelling, theatre, and visual design. His debut theatrical show Climb, created alongside an album of the same name, received glowing reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019 and 2022, and was named runner-up for Show of the Festival at the 2023 Milan Fringe.

His music-theatre production Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World has toured internationally to critical and audience acclaim. The show received many 5-star reviews, sold out at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe, won Jury’s Choice at the Ottawa Fringe Festival, earned Patron’s Pick at the Toronto Fringe Festival, and received weekly Best Music Show awards at both the 2025 Perth Fringe and Adelaide Fringe Festivals.

Duane is also the creator of Tree of Dreams, an immersive multimedia theatre experience combining live music, object storytelling, shadow play, and projection. Inspired by The Little Prince and The Alchemist, the show follows a boy growing up in government housing who has forgotten how to dream — and explores the idea that nothing is truly lost, only changing.

His newest theatrical concert, Tenderly: The Life and Times of Nat King Cole, continues his exploration of music, memory, history, and identity, blending performance, storytelling, and projected visuals to examine the life and legacy of one of the most influential voices of the 20th century.

Across all his work, Duane explores resilience, imagination, cultural memory, and the power of music to carry stories across borders.