Manta Ray (musician)

Charles Ray Conrad (b. 20 February 1916 in Reef Nook; d. 15 September 1988 in Mexico City, aged 72), better known by his stage name Manta Ray, was an Antillan calypso and ska singer-songwriter and guitarist, who recorded 33 studio albums between 1938 and 1985, making him one of the most prolific Antillan musicians. He is also known as the composer and writer of "The Last Safe Place", which was adopted as Antilla's national anthem in 1966.

Born in Reef Nook, Parmesa in 1916 to a Black Antillan father and a White Antillan mother, Conrad was raised in the Antillan capital of Christiansby, where he attended St. Bertrand's Academy, from which he graduated in 1933. He entered New Antilla College in 1934, where he studied music, English and French literature, anthropology and performing arts, graduating in 1938 with a BM and a minor in West African anthropology.

About two months after finishing college, Conrad was signed to Antillan record label Nova Zulu, recording his debut studio album Alien Evening over the summer at Nova Zulu's Christiansby studio, which was released on 28 September 1938, becoming a moderate success in the contemporary popular music scene of the Eastern Caribbean, with the album's title track peaking at #3 on Radio Kingston's singles chart during the third week of October 1938. The following year, Conrad became engaged to Monica Weston-Cooper, whom he married on 1 July 1939. Conrad and Weston-Cooper would remain married up to her 1979 death during a failed landing at New Antilla International Airport.