Levi was born Keith Valentine Graham in Jamaica, the youngest of six raised by his grandmother, as his elder siblings moved to the UK, one by one, after his parents came to Britain to start a new life.
Levi previously told how they could only afford to bring one child over each year, meaning his grandmother brought him up, as he was the youngest and the last to arrive.
‘She was too poor to send me to school but she taught me to cook. We lived entirely off fresh fruit, herbs and spices from the garden and although there was no money, there were always good meals on the table,’ he told MailOnline in 2013.
His grandmother caught him how to make jerk chicken sauce, a recipe which he later perfected, and he joined his parents in Brixton at the age of 12.
Childhood: Levi was born Keith Valentine Graham in Jamaica, the youngest of six raised by his grandmother, as his siblings moved one by one to live with his parents in the UK
He admitted he couldn’t read or write when he arrived and learnt to read from the Famous Five books, but found an escape in cookery and would make classic Caribbean dishes for his father.
But Levi was drawn into a life of crime in the 1970s while he tried to carve out a career in music, and was sent to Pentonville prison at the age of 15 for six months charged with assault on a police officer.
In 1986, police raided the youth club he ran and he was jailed again for possession of drugs, where he met an ‘inspiring’ woman who encouraged him to shed the name Keith and go by Levi instead.
After leaving prison, he put his focus into his music and formed a band called Matic 16, performed with James Brown and was nominated for a Best Reggae Act MOBO award in 1998.
But his love for food also followed him through his music career, as he would cook in the dressing room for everyone while touring with his bandmates.
In 1991, he also opened the ‘Rasta’raunt’ at Notting Hill Carnival – which has since become an annual fixture – where his sauce recipe gained huge popularity, but it still took another decade-and-a-half to make his business happen.
In 2006, Levi was spotted at the World Food Market by a BBC researcher and invited to appear on Dragons’ Den – a show which Levi had never heard of before.
Despite his children urging him not to go on the show because they would ‘tear’ him to pieces, Levi decided to give it a shot, hoping for his break having been rejected for loans from banks for 16 years because his idea sounded ‘too black’.
Music: Levi (pictured in 2001) first carved out a career as a musician and formed a band called Matic 16 and was nominated for a Best Reggae Act MOBO award in 1998
Success: He was also passionate about cooking and in 2007, Levi won over the stars of Dragon’s Den with his Reggae Reggae Sauce song – after 16 years selling it on stalls
He previously told how it was when he started to feel the pinch with his seven children that he realised he needed to merge music and food to ‘give a bit of soul to the sauce’ in a bid to make money.
In 2007, Levi won over the stars of Dragon’s Den with his Reggae Reggae Sauce song and won an investment to manufacture his product.
He secured a £50,000 investment in return for 40 per cent of the business from Dragons Peter Jones and Richard Farleigh and went on to produce his Reggae Reggae Sauce.
Almost immediately afterwards, Sainsbury’s announced it would be stocking Levi’s sauce in 600 of its stores, and within weeks, it became its fastest-selling product.
‘He’s the most important mentor in my life. He made the crucial phone call that got the sauce into Sainsbury’s,’ Levi later told MailOnline of Peter’s investment in him.
‘It was surreal going from selling the sauce on a market stall to seeing them on shelves all over the country. It was the most amazing thing that’s happened to me.’
On the show, Levi claimed the secret recipe for his sauce was handed down by his grandmother Miriam. But his former business partner, chef Tony Bailey, accused Levi of stealing the recipe the pair used when they ran a stall at Notting Hill Carnival.
Tony attempted to sue Levi for more than £600,000, but Levi won the case in 2011 after the judge ruled he didn’t steal the recipe.
Amazing: He secured a £50,000 investment in return for 40 per cent of the business from Dragons Peter Jones (pictured in 2007) and Richard Farleigh
Mentor: ‘He’s the most important mentor in my life. He made the crucial phone call that got the sauce into Sainsbury’s,’ Levi said of Peter’s investment in him (pictured in 2008)
Incredible: The Reggae Reggae brand now has some 50 products, from table sauces to soft drinks, rocketing Levi to multi-millionaire status
‘Peter always told me my story was too good to be true and to be prepared for someone to throw a spanner at me. But I never expected the spanner to be thrown from so close to home. I still feel hurt,’ he said of the incident.
The Reggae Reggae brand now has some 50 products, from table sauces to soft drinks, rocketing Levi to multi-millionaire status.
Levi has also released cooking books including Grill It With Levi: 101 Reggae Recipes For Sunshine And Soul, Levi Roots Food for Friends, and a bakery recipe book.
He has appeared on The Celebrity Chase and rose to huge fame with his successful career as a chef.
