Mighty Sparrow baptised in New York Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

Mighty Sparrow, the undisputed Calypso King of the World, was baptised on Saturday at Far Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York, USA.

With his baptism as a Seventh-Day Adventist, it is uncertain if the legendary Mighty Sparrow will ever again sing calypsos to his legions of fans worldwide.

According to the Searchlight newspaper in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sparrow, 87, whose real name is Slinger Francisco, was “taken into the water of holy baptism by Vincentian Seventh-Day Adventist Pastor, Claudius Morgan.” Morgan, a former calypsonian himself, carried the sobriquet ‘Samaritan Singer’.

The paper said Sparrow, who now resides in Queens, was “dressed in all white” for his water baptism.

“He is now known as Brother Francisco, (and is) a member of the Linden Seventh-Day Adventist Church in New York,” the Searchlight said.

Mighty Sparrow is considered to be the greatest calypsonian of his generation.

He is known for classics such as ‘Jean and Dinah’, ‘Sa Sa Yea’, ‘Both Of Them’, ‘Drunk and Disorderly’, ‘Survival’, ‘Capitalism Gone Mad’, and ‘Education’.

Sparrow, who grew up in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, was born in the fishing village of Grand Roy in Grenada.

He moved to Trinidad and Tobago as a one-year-old with his mother. His father had relocated there in 1937.

Sparrow has won Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival Road March competition eight times, Calypso King/Monarch eight times, and has twice won the Calypso King of Kings title.

In July 2010, the United States Congress listed Sparrow in its Congressional Record.

NewsAmericasNow.com