Calypso Rose

Who she is

Calypso Rose was born McCartha Linda Sandy-Lewis in Bethel, Tobago, in 1940, one of 11 children of a Baptist minister who considered calypso "the devil's music".^1,2 At nine she went to live in Trinidad, where her foster mother's wind-up gramophone introduced her to the great calypsonians. She was writing calypsos at 13, and by 15 she was performing as "Crusoe Kid", with a first minor hit called "Glass Thief".²

She changed her name, she explained, because "the rose is the mother of all flowers. I don't have children myself but I consider myself mother to all the female calypsonians who came after me."²

Signature sound and key songs

Rose's music runs the full spectrum, from social and political commentary to party music, gospel and inspirational songs.¹ She has composed over 800 songs and recorded more than 20 albums.¹

Her classic "Fire in Me Wire" arrived in 1966 and, in the words of her UWI citation, "was so nice it was done twice".¹ Then in 2016, more than 60 years after she wrote her first calypso, she had a late-career triumph with Far From Home, co-produced with Manu Chao, which went straight into the Top 10 in France.²

Carnival legacy

Calypso Rose did not just compete in a man's world, she changed its rules. From 1972 to 1976 she won the Calypso Queen title. In 1977 she became the first woman to win the Road March, with "Tempo", and it would be 22 years before another female calypsonian took that title.¹ In 1978 she won the Calypso King competition itself, which led to the contest being renamed the Calypso Monarch in her honour.¹

Her honours include an honorary Doctor of Letters from The University of the West Indies in 2014, the title of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for former child soldiers, and the keys to the cities of Arima and Port of Spain. She overcame a stammer, physical abuse, gender discrimination, heart attacks and cancer along the way.¹ As the UWI citation put it, she is "the undisputed Calypso Queen of the World".¹

Start here

• "Tempo" (1977): the historic Road March.
• "Fire in Me Wire" (1966): a timeless classic.
• "Calypso Blues": her official video, a great first listen.
• "Calypso Queen" (2016): her own coronation song.
• "Leave Me Alone" (with Manu Chao): her duet with the producer who helped spark her late-career boom.

Sources

1. UWI Today: Calypso Rose honorary doctorate citation (2014) (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸

2. The Guardian (UK): Calypso Rose interview (2016) (opens in a new tab) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴