NASSAU, the Bahamas ? It is with heavy hearts that we at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture pay our respects to the memory of Bahamian artist and producer Mr. Frank Penn, who passed yesterday. November 2, 2009.

Although Mr. Penn, whose father was the late Simpson C. Penn, was born in Nassau and grew up on Burial Ground Corner, he is best and most notably known for the cultural contributions that he made in Freeport, Grand Bahama, where he moved to in 1963.

Mr. Penn started an interest in music early, being a piano student and a bugle player in the Boys Brigade Band in the early 1950s. He wrote his first song ?Strike, Strike, Strike? in 1958, about the General Strike in January of that year.

He took that early love for music and followed his heart in Freeport, purchasing the Bunting Studio in 1973 and later renaming it to GBI Recording Studio two years later.

Mr. Penn?s studio was the only local recording studio in Grand Bahama for many years and attracted Bahamian entertainers and cultural icons, such as Blind Blake, KB, Dry Bread, Edwin "Apple" Elliott, Fritz Bootle, Jr., Wendal Stuart, Donald Glass, Kelda Sweeting, Pat Carey, Chippie and the Boys, The Cooling Waters, Leroy "Smokey 007" McKenzie, Kristen Penn and Denika Penn, among countless others.

Mr. Penn was also a tireless advocate for more Bahamian music on the local airwaves. He produced several records, at personal expense to ensure that there was local Bahamian music for airplay. This campaign earned him the respect of many in the Bahamian music scene and the thanks of even more in the industry today.

Frank Penn served two years as the President of the Grand Bahama Musicians and Entertainers Union (1976-1978) and established the Bahamian Composition Month, a programme encouraging more Bahamian songs playing on the radio, during his tenure. Mr. Penn also assisted local bands seeking gigs in hotels and pushed for a balance between Bahamian and foreign music in nightclubs and discos of that era.

Mr. Penn received countless awards and accolades locally and internationally and produced compilations such as "Hit Songs of the Bahamas" and "Over Thirty Years of Bahamian Music", showing his love for promoting Bahamian music around the world.

He worked passionately with one of his latest endeavours, the Happy Hour Experience Television Ministry, which aired on Mondays, at 8:30 p.m., on Channel 12. As a man of strong Christian beliefs, Mr. Penn used his talent and drive to constructively encourage young people to consider morality and positivity in their daily lives and to treat each other with respect.

We, at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture salute Mr. Frank Penn for the part that he played in nation building and extend our condolences to family, friends and well-wishers. He made a positive impact on all our lives.