Dawn Penn (born Dawn Pickering, 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae singer.
Dawn Penn’s earliest recordings were for Prince Buster around 1966. In 1967 she recorded and released the rocksteady single, «You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)» produced by Coxsone Dodd at Studio One.[1] She also recorded «Why Did You Leave» at Studio One, «Broke My Heart» for Bunny Lee, «I Let You Go Boy» and covers of «To Sir with Love» and «Here Comes the Sun».
However by 1970, Penn had left the music industry and moved to the Virgin Islands. Nevertheless, in 1987 she returned to Jamaica and music.
In the summer of 1992 she was invited to appear on stage at a Studio One anniversary show, where she performed the song «You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)» with Steely & Clevie as backing musicians. The performance was a success, and she returned to the recording studio to re-record the song for Steely & Clevie’s Studio One tribute album (Steely and Clevie Play Studio One Vintage - Heartbeat Label - released 1992). It was released as a single over a year later, reaching the charts in the U.S. and Europe, plus hitting #1 in her native Jamaica, and making #3 in the UK Singles Chart. In 1994, Big Beat/Atlantic released No, No, No, Penn’s first full-length album since her comeback.
Subsequently, «You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)» has been sampled and covered by the artists Kano, Hexstatic, Jae Millz, Ghostface Killah, Mims, Eve featuring Stephen Marley and Rihanna. Their versions were all renamed as «No, No, No», bar Ghostface’s which was named «New Splash». Lily Allen has also sampled «You Don’t Love Me» in her song, «Shame for You». The song was also performed by Blue King Brown on the Australian youth radio network Triple J as part of their Like a Version program in 2006.
Penn performed with Faisal X at the Drum, Birmingham, England in April 2006. The same year Penn was on the bill at the Uppsala Reggae Festival in Sweden.
