Energetic and vivacious Trinidadian singer who was only the third woman to win the coveted Calypso Monarch crown
Denyse Plummer, who has died aged 69 of cancer, was one of the most prominent female singers in the male-dominated world of calypso. Only the third woman to win the coveted Calypso Monarch crown in Trinidad & Tobago, she was also unusual in being a white artist in a genre that typically reflects the interests and concerns of the black population of the Caribbean.
That garnered her a hostile reception in Trinidad when she first appeared on the scene. But she fought through the prejudice to become a national star, and was eventually awarded the Hummingbird Medal, the country’s highest honour, in 2011.
The finals of the Calypso Monarch competition are held each year on the Savannah, a park in Port of Spain, where singers deliver two compositions written specifically for that year’s carnival. Plummer won her crown in 2001 with a pair of excellent songs, Heroes and Nah Leaving, which impressed the judges not just with their melodies but with their consideration of topics such as racism and societal violence.
Plummer’s triumph in 2001 was in marked contrast to her fraught debut in the competition in 1986, when, during the semi-finals at Skinner Park in San Fernando, sections of a large and vociferous crowd jeered her throughout, pelting her on stage with various unsavoury objects.
It took some time for the ill-will to disappear, but Plummer was able to win over the public by facing up bravely to the hostility and by demonstrating her great command and understanding of calypso, which, she pointed out, was as much a part of her own culture as anybody else’s.
A high energy, vivacious performer whose costumes often featured vast plumes of feathers and elaborate head dresses, she was as much at ease with frantic party tunes as with the more traditional calypso fare of heartfelt pleas for national unity and progress. Read More
Mason, P. (2023, August 29). Denyse Plummer obituary. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/29/denyse-plummer-obituary
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