18
19
F
resh as a Rose,
this vibrant 76 year
old Queen has a hectic
schedule that can make
most wither. Celebrating
her recent win at the
French Grammys on
February 10th, she
blossomed “Far from
Home”.
Born on April 27th 1940,
Linda McCartha Monica
Sandy-Lewis was one of
eleven children brought up
in a humble one bedroom
home in Bethel, a small
village on the island on
Tobago. Her father was
a leader of the Spiritual
Shouter Baptists, and at
age 9, she was sent to
Trinidad to live with an
uncle and aunt who offered
by Michelle J Nunes with the
kind permission of Jean Michel
Gilbert, Manager of Calypso
Rose.
Rose Blossoms
Far from Home
journalist wrote about the
song in her paper, the
cabinet of the government
of Trinidad and Tobago
passed a law to bring a
minimum wage to any
workers, including house
workers.”
Likewise, in ”Abatina” she
condemned domestic
violence, “I am Africa”
encompassed the fate of
the black person, sung
with the same passion
as the late Bob Marley,
who was her close friend.
Her composition “Human
Race” expresses hope
in humanity despite the
unrest and violence in
today’s world.
Calypso Rose’s
Life Awards and
Achievements.
• 1963
: Her first
performance outside of
T&T was in Grenada
and St. Thomas, where
she won the “Calypso
King” contest with her
first recorded song
“Cooperation”. This was
the first time that a woman
won the title.
•1967:
She performed
with Bob Marley and the
Wailers at the Grand
Ballroom in New York City.
• 1970 :
The year of the
Birth of Soca, rhythmically
very close to Calypso but
with more melodic bass
lines and less sophisticated
lyrics. Calypso Rose wrote
her first soca tune “Action
is Tight “
•1974 :
She won the title
of “Calypso Queen” with
“Do Them Back” (her first
gold record), and retained
the title for 5 years through
to 1978.
• 1977 :
Calypso Rose
was the first woman to
win Trinidad’s prestigious
“Road March” competition
with her song “Gimme
More Tempo”.
• 1978 :
The “Calypso
King” competition was
renamed “Calypso
Monarch” in honour of
Calypso Rose, who won
the competition with “I
Thank Thee”.
• 1986 :
Calypso Rose
received the title of
“Ambassador at Large
of Liberia” with her song
“Pepper Soup “ for her
efforts to support the
improvement of life in the
West African nation.
• 1991 :
Calypso Rose
received the award
for “Most Outstanding
Woman” by the National
Action Committee for
Women in Trinidad and
Tobago.
• 1999
: Calypso Rose
received the International
Award of Caribbean Music
at the Caribbean Music
AWARDS.
• 2016:
She released
the compilation ‘Calypso
Soundsystem’ and also
released a new album titled
“Far From Home”.
• 2017:
On February
10th at the Victoires
de la Musique (French
‘Grammys’): Calypso
Rose wins the award of
Best Album in the World
category.
No Caribbean artist
has ever received this
prestigious award, so one
can imagine the feeling of
euphoria she would have
felt when her name was
announced as the winner.
After her acceptance
speech she performed
“Abatina” and “Leave Me
Alone” to an enthusiastic
and passionate audience.
The “Leave Me Alone,”
remix for Carnival 2017,
featured Manu Chao and
Machel Montano, and
became a big hit for a
women’s group who has
taken the track as an
anthem for their campaign
to protest violence against
women. Manu Chao is a
French-born musician of
Spanish origin. He sings in
French, Spanish, English,
Italian, Arabic, Catalan,
Galician, Portuguese
and occasionally in other
languages. Chao and
Rose met during Carnival
2015 and instantly hit it
off, and started a series of
collaboration on a few of
her tracks.
Calypso Rose currently
lives far from home,
in 1983, she migrated
and currently resides in
Queens, NYC. However
the life of a successful
musician is always on
the road, and the Queen
of Calypso has tours
scheduled in France for
two months, then she
heads to South America for
two weeks, before heading
back to France at the end
of August for shows all
over Europe, Morocco, and
Tunisia.
After the album Far From
Home was released in
France, it became a gold
record in a few months
and will soon be platinum.
In June, the album will
be released in the USA,
Canada, and South
America. Since the award
and the famous speech for
the ceremony, where she
thanks the Government of
T&T and her fans for her
success, Calypso Rose is
now the Queen of France!
Her extroverted, cheeky,
endearing and vibrant
nature is expressed on
these 12 tracks, be sure to
pick up your copy soon.
Happy 77th Birthday, our
Queen of Calypso and
Queen of France from all
at TTARP !
NOTE:
Victoires de la Musique is an
annual French award ceremony
delivered by the French
Ministry of Culture since 1985
to recognize outstanding
achievement in the music
industry for the best musical
artists of the year. The awards
are the French equivalent to the
Grammy Awards and the Brit
Awards for music, and it is one
of the major awards in France.
to “adopt” one of the kids.
She recalls missing her
siblings terribly but she
adjusted and eventually
accepted her new family
life.
She began writing calypso
songs in 1955 at the age
of 15. Her first composition
was titled “Glass Thief”
after seeing a man steal
the spectacles off of a
lady’s face in the Croisée,
San Juan. It was the first
calypso which denounced
the inequality between
men and women. She
started singing at the
Original Young Brigade
calypso tent under the
stage name Crusoe Kid
with much objection from
her uncle who was a
Seventh Day Adventist and
her father, since during this
era it was not customary
for females to sing calypso.
However, there was no
stopping her, and to date
this Calypso Legend has
written more than 800
songs and recorded more
than 20 albums.
Later she adopted the
stage name “Calypso
Rose” which she attributes
to the late Eric Williams
who saw her performance
at a reception, and later
told her that he felt she
would bloom like a rose,
which is the mother of all
flowers.
Her personal life has not
always been a bed of
roses, in a documentary
titled “Calypso Rose,
Lioness of the Jungle”, she
revealed being sexually
abused as a teenager.
She also had to fight and
conquered cancer and
two heart attacks. These
adversities have shaped
this little lady into a heroine
whose experiences and
viewpoints are shared
with the aim to create
awareness and change.
Through her music, she
expresses her innermost
feelings about social
justice. In a recent interview
with Annie O in NYC, she
stated “I have fought all
my life. Being a woman
in calypso was not easy,
and calypso at that time
was seen as the tool of
the devil. By my own
father! I always fight for
what I find is not right. For
instance, my (1969) song
“No Madam” was written to
show the world the terrible
life of the house servant
at the time. After an Italian
