Calypso Rose
| Calypso Rose | |
|---|---|
Calypso Rose performing in concert
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Linda McArtha Monica Sandy-Lewis |
| Also known as | Crusoe Kid |
| Born |
27 April 1940 Bethel Village, Tobago |
| Genres | Calypso, Soca |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | Because Music |
| Website | Calypso Rose Tribute Site |
Calypso Rose (born 27 April 1940, Bethel Village, Tobago) is a calypsonian. She began writing songs at the age of 15, turned professional in 1964 and has written more than 800 songs and recorded more than 20 albums.
Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis, her father was a leader with the Spiritual Shouter Baptists. Her family was very traditional and opposed her singing in Carnival tents. She composed her first calypso in 1955 after seeing a man steal the spectacles off of a lady's face in the Croisée, San Juan. In the song, she advises Tobagonians to stay at home, because Trinidad was no place for them. Originally she used Crusoe Kid as her stage name, the name "Calypso Rose" being given to her by the calypsonian Mighty Spoiler, and tent members Piggy and Spike.
Travelling outside of Trinidad and Tobago for the first time in 1963, Rose covered the Caribbean islands from Grenada to St. Thomas. She won the Calypso King contest and the Roadmarch in St. Thomas with her first recording, Cooperation. In 1966 she wrote the song "Fire in Me Wire", the first calypso ever sung two years running at the Trinidad carnival, in 1966 and 1967. Her 1969 song, "No Madame", criticised the treatment of domestic servants and led to government intervention to stop their exploitation.
In the mid-1970s, as well as dominating the race for the title of "Calypso Queen", a title she won five years running from 1972–77, Rose had major hits with Constable Rose and Do Dem Back, which became her first gold disc. She was the first female to win the Trinidad Road March competition in 1977 with her song "Gimme More Tempo". The following year she took the title again with "Come Leh We Jam". That same year, she won the competition, the first time a woman had received the award. The competition's title was changed to Calypso Monarch in her honour.
Rose has lived in New York since 1983. In October 1996, she underwent surgery for breast cancer and in 1998 undertook therapy for a malignancy in her stomach. She retrained as a criminologist and had been in semi-retirement until her new album Far from Home (2016), a collaboration with Manu Chao that went straight into the Top 10 in France.
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