Singer Mighty Sparrow, calypso icon, dies at 91

As it celebrates fifty years of its status as a republic, Trinidad and Tobago loses one of its major voices.

The songs of Mighty Sparrow have punctuated the life of the small island state, which faces Venezuela. Real name Slinger Francisco, the calypso pillar died in New York at the age of 91. His death followed a “brief illness”, specifies the press release sent by his family.

“Our nation mourns the loss of an icon,” said Kamla Persad Bissessar, Prime Minister, on For decades, Sparrow has been part of the soundtrack of Trinidad and Tobago. » But also from Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada, whose political figures have paid tribute to him. Among Mighty Sparrow's most popular songs are Short Little Shorts and Mr. Walker.

Born in 1935 in the town of Grand Roy, Grenada, Slinger Francisco moved to the neighboring island as a child. His hit Jean and Dinah, which plays on the despair of girls after the departure of American soldiers from the country, brought him to notoriety in 1956. A version of this song was recorded the following year by Robert Mitchum. The calypso genre conquered the United States in the mid-1950s, where it was popularized by Harry Belafonte.

Dance and carnival music derived from 19th century slave songs, calypso is inspired by daily life events as well as political news, often with humor. In Our Model Nation (1962), Mighty Sparrow sang of the end of British rule and the achievement of independence. In 1964, he engraved a title called Martin Luther King For President.