Born Dalton Sinclair Bishop in Chapman Lane, Bridgetown, Barbados on 27 August 1937, Jackie Opel was a popular singer who possessed a rich, powerful voice with a high octave range. He was known as the "Jackie Wilson of Jamaica" and was also a gifted dancer.
In the early 1960s, he was discovered by Byron Lee, the band master of the Dragonaires, who brought him to Jamaica. His styles included ska, R&B, soul, gospel and calypso. He is credited with inventing spouge music, a fusion of ska, calypso, and R&B music. Opel performed duos with Doreen Schaffer and Hortense Ellis, and in 1964 was backed by Wailers Bob Marley and Peter Tosh on "Mill Man", "Hairy Mango" and "A time to cry" and maybe some others like "I Don´t Want Her".
Opel eventually moved to Trinidad and then subsequently returned home to Barbados.
On 9 March 1970, he died in a car crash on Lower Bay Street, Bridgetown, Barbados.