Happy birthday, Birdie, true king of calypso

Happy birthday, Birdie, true king of calypso

“His name is De Mighty Sparrow, de fella could sing calypso...” We recall that tribute paid to Slinger Francisco, Calypso King of the World, by his colleague and friend Carlton Joseph, Lord Blakie.

On Tuesday, July 9, Sparrow celebrated 89 years on the planet. God has been good to him for long life. In return for that gift of life, Sparrow has given his life to his God, baptised in the faith of the Seventh Day Adventists in New York, where he now spends most of this time.

Sparrow, without hesitation the king of calypso, has been decorated with the Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree by The University of the West Indies, a Lifetime Award by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, and was made a member of the Order of the British Empire by the United Kingdom, even though he sang the naughty bit about Her Majesty and her imagined travail at Buckingham.

Calls for icons to be honoured as Sparrow turns 89

As the Calypso King of the World celebrated his 89th birthday on Tuesday, there were calls for the National Cultural Recognition Policy to be implemented so that designated icons can receive their flowers while still alive. Born in Grand Roy, Grenada, but Trini to the bone, Dr Slinger Francisco, also known as The Mighty Sparrow or The Birdie, now lives in the United States. This was something his birthday twin, CNC3 sports anchor Gyasi Merrique, referenced when asked how our greatest calypsonian should be recognised.

“It would have been nice if he was able to reside here so that the appearances would have been more frequent,” he said. In 1987 Sparrow received an honorary doctorate of letters from The University of the West Indies. There is a statue of him at the centre of the St Ann’s Roundabout and in 2015, the late Prof Gordon Rohlehr, who wrote about him extensively, published what he described as “a sample of my contemplation of the career of one of the region’s premier and most celebrated artists,” in a book entitled My Whole Life is Calypso. He won the Road March and the Calypso Monarch eight times and the Queen made him an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He has been recognised, but as he approaches his 90s, ill-health might be preventing him from making Sparrow’s Hideaway his home.

In 2020, The National Cultural Recognition Policy was laid as a white paper in Parliament by then-culture minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly. It proposed the naming of cultural ambassadors who would receive a diplomatic passport and a cash benefit of $250,000.

In reply to sgtdjones



was it after "Phillip my dear?"

In reply to googley

Namaste, how BOO he still around?

In reply to Runs

Hey bro. You boy still dey about....runningthings