Mighty Sparrow, the Calypso King of the World, Dies at 91

Mighty Sparrow, the calypso giant born Slinger Francisco, died Sunday, Sept. 27, at 91 after a brief illness in New York. Born in Grand Roy, Grenada, in 1935 and raised in Trinidad&Tobago, he picked up the steel pan at 14 and never looked back. His breakthrough,“Jean and Dinah,”won him Trinidad’s Carnival Road March and Calypso King titles, and an RCA Records deal followed in the 1960s. From there, a seven-decade run that stretched from classic calypso into soca and made him one of the most celebrated Caribbean artists of all time.

The tributes tell the story just as well as the discography. Machel Montano, Coutain, Kes and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley all honored him as an artist, a mentor and a cultural institution. Coutain credited Sparrow with giving him opportunities and taking him under his wing. That mentorship, alongside honors like an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies in 1987, an OBE in 2015, and the Elite Calypso Honor at the 2024 Caribbean Music Awards, shows a career measured in influence, not just hits.

For the diaspora, Sparrow was a constant: a fixture at Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade, a voice at every Carnival, a songwriter whose wit and political edge still echoes through Caribbean music today. His catalog is seven decades deep, and the best way to honor it is to press play. What’s your favorite Mighty Sparrow track? Drop it in the comments and we’ll spin the best ones.