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The Mighty Sparrow Returns Home To Trinidad Ahead Of State-Assisted Funeral

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By News Americas Now ET EDITOR

News Americas Now, PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, weds. Oct. 7, 2026: The body of legendary calypsonian Dr. Slinger The Mighty Sparrow Francisco arrived at Piarco International Airport in Trinidad on Tuesday, October 6th, marking an emotional homecoming for the cultural icon who died in New York on September 27th at age 91.

Sparrow’s son, Cyril Sancho Francisco, was at the airport to receive his father, accompanied by Minister of Culture and Community Development Michelle Benjamin. The return comes as the country now turns to planning a final farewell for a man whose career spanned more than seven decades and helped establish calypso as one of the Caribbean’s most powerful forms of musical storytelling.

Born in Grenada and raised in Trinidad, Sparrow rose to prominence in the 1950s and became internationally known for his sharp wit, social commentary, and unmistakable stage presence. His breakthrough came in 1956 with “Jean and Dinah,” which earned him the Calypso Monarch and Road March titles that year. Over the decades that followed, his music tackled politics, social issues, relationships, culture, and everyday Caribbean life, cementing his place as one of the genre’s most influential voices.

His contribution was recognized at the highest level in Trinidad and Tobago, including the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, making him one of the country’s most decorated cultural figures.

The Government has confirmed that Sparrow will receive a state-assisted funeral, with the Ministry of Culture and Community Development working alongside the Francisco family on the arrangements. Benjamin and the family are expected to lead another planning meeting on Wednesday, October 7, with further details on the funeral and national tributes to be released in the days ahead.

Sparrow’s homecoming follows a Celebration of Life service held in Queens, New York on October 4th, where hundreds of mourners, fellow musicians and admirers gathered at Linden Seventh-day Adventist Church to honor him before his body was prepared for transport to Trinidad and Tobago. Official books of condolence remain open to the public in Trinidad and Tobago through Wednesday, October 14.

News Americas Now will continue to follow developments as state funeral and burial details are confirmed.

RELATED: The Mighty Sparrow Is No More: The Calypso Legend’s Final Chapter

Hundreds Gather In Queens, NY To Celebrate The Life Of Calypso Legend The Mighty Sparrow

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By News Americas Now Staff Writer

News Americas, Now, LAURELTON, NY, Mon. Oct. 5, 2026: Hundreds of mourners, fellow musicians and admirers filled Linden Seventh-day Adventist Church in Laurelton, Queens on Sunday for a Celebration of Life honoring Dr. Slinger Francisco – the legendary calypsonian known worldwide as The Mighty Sparrow – who died in New York on September 27, 2026, at age 91.

The service, held at 228-20 137th Avenue and livestreamed by the church, drew an outpouring of tributes from the pulpit, with pastors, family members, and fellow performers reflecting on a career that spanned more than seven decades and helped define modern calypso music. A photo of Dr. Francisco and a poster bearing the title “Calypso King” stood beside his casket at the altar, framed by flowers and flanked by imagery honoring his Trinidad and Tobago roots alongside the wider Caribbean community that claimed him as its own.

Mourners dressed in black, many wearing floral boutonnieres, filled the pews as the service blended scripture, song, and personal remembrance. At one point, a performer in a sequined jacket took the floor with a microphone to pay musical tribute, a nod to the calypso tradition Dr. Francisco spent his life building. The livestream drew tens of thousands of views, underscoring the reach of a figure whose influence stretched far beyond Trinidad and Tobago and across the Caribbean diaspora in New York and beyond. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and New York State Senator Kevin Parker also delivered remarks. 

Born July 9, 1935, Dr. Francisco rose from Grenadian roots to become one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most celebrated cultural icons, winning multiple Calypso Monarch titles and helping carry calypso to international audiences over a career that made him a defining voice of Caribbean music.

While Sunday’s service marked his New York homegoing, his final resting place and burial date have not yet been announced. Following the Queens service, Dr. Francisco’s body is being prepared for transport to Trinidad and Tobago, where the government is coordinating an official state-assisted funeral and national tribute. Culture Minister Michelle Benjamin has confirmed that a specialized planning committee is working alongside the Francisco family to finalize arrangements, with the state funeral date still “to be fixed” as logistics are coordinated.

Meanwhile, the national remembrance in Trinidad and Tobago is already underway. Official books of condolence opened to the public on October 1 and will remain available for signing through Wednesday, October 14, 2026, giving Trinidadians and the wider diaspora a formal way to honor a figure widely regarded as one of the most important voices in Caribbean music history.

News Americas Now will continue to follow developments as burial and state funeral details are confirmed.

Watch the full Celebration of Life service, livestreamed by Linden Seventh-day Adventist Church: youtube.com/live/wH2K4CMIhvU.

RELATED: Calypso History Month Opens Today As Trinidad Prepares For Official State-Assisted Funeral For The Mighty Sparrow

Jamaican Dancehall Artiste Skippa Named Billboard Caribbean Rising Star

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BY News Americas Now ET EDITOR

News Americas, NY, NY, Oct. 3, 2026: Jamaican dancehall artiste Skippa has been named a Billboard Caribbean Rising Star, capping a breakout year that began with the Jamaica Observer tapping him as an artiste to watch at the start of 2026.

The recognition follows a surge in streaming numbers and chart placements for the up-and-coming deejay. By December 2025, Skippa had already become Jamaica’s third most-viewed artiste on YouTube, trailing only Chronic Law and Vybz Kartel, with roughly 79.9 million views. Throughout 2026, several of his tracks ranked among Jamaica’s most-streamed records.

“Everything kind of surpassed what we had in mind…it’s been crazy,” Skippa told the Jamaica Observer of his rapid rise.

The artiste, who records with Chargie Records, Solitary Muzic and Bankroller and is backed by manager Cristina and producer/engineer Travis, said he has stayed focused on authenticity as his audience has grown. “I’m being myself and making music from my own experience,” he said.

Skippa added that sustaining a career takes more than a single hit. “You can have one song that catches fire, but building a career is different,” he said.

With Billboard’s recognition and an expanding international fanbase, 2026 has marked a turning point for the dancehall artiste, whose growing catalog and touring schedule point to a widening reach beyond Jamaica.

RELATED: Lieutenant Stitchie, Dancehall’s “Governor” Turned Gospel Icon, Dies Just Shy Of His 61st Birthday

Calypso History Month Opens Today As Trinidad Prepares For Official State-Assisted Funeral For The Mighty Sparrow

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By News Americas Now ET Editor

News Americas Now, NY, NY, Fri. Oct. 2, 2026: Calypso History Month begins today across Trinidad and Tobago – and for the first time in its history, the entire month will be observed in memory of one man: Dr. Slinger “The Mighty Sparrow” Francisco, the Calypso King of the World, who died in New York on September 27th at age 91.

Culture and Community Development Minister Michelle Benjamin made the announcement in the House of Representatives Thursday, confirming that under the Prime Minister’s direction, the government will give Sparrow an official state-assisted funeral, with a committee already working alongside the Francisco family on arrangements “fit for a legend.”

A date has not been set yet. The Ministry of Culture and Community Development, working with TUKO, will stage a national tribute, and books of condolence are opening at locations across the country, including the National Academy for the Performing Arts, the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, and the Shore Park Cultural Complex in Tobago.

“Dr Slinger Francisco O.R.T.T., the Mighty Sparrow, the Calypso King of the World. He was 91,” Benjamin told the House, calling his death the loss of “one of the greatest cultural figures this country has ever produced.” She extended condolences to his family and to the people of Grenada, where Sparrow was born in Grand Roy on July 9, 1935: “We grieve with you for a son we have shared for 90 years.”

Calypso History Month

FLASHBACK: The Mighty Sparrow performed enthusiastically at Massey Hall in 1976. (Photo by Doug Griffin/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

The timing gives Calypso History Month unusual weight this year. Benjamin pointed to a catalog built over roughly 70 years – more than 500 calypsos, over 70 albums, eight Calypso Monarch titles, eight Road March titles, and two Calypso King of Kings crowns – but said Sparrow’s real honor was always the people’s. “It was the way a Sparrow song could play, and the entire gathering would know the words,” she said. “He sang the truth when others kept quiet. He stood up to those in power, that he did, and he held up a mirror so ordinary people could see their own lives in his songs.”

His awards and honors included:

1987 — Honorary Doctor of Letters (D. Litt.) from the University of the West Indies
2013 — Lifetime Achievement Award, Trinidad & Tobago Government
2015 — Awarded Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE)
2019 — GlobalFEST Lifetime Artist Award

FLASHBACK – Trinidadian calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Mighty Sparrow (aka Slinger Francisco), performing at the Trinidad Carnival, 17th February 1967. (Photo by Lichfield Archive via Getty Images).

THE DIASPORA

The diaspora’s own tributes have been just as personal. Caribbean-American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke of New York, whose Brooklyn and Queens district sits at the heart of the city’s Caribbean community, told the Caribbean Media Corporation that Sparrow’s talent “could not be confined to the nations of the Caribbean, but instead came to be beloved across the globe.” And in Brooklyn, Dr. Suzanne Straker Greenidge-Hewitt is mourning two losses barely a month apart: her father, Straker’s Records founder Granville “Straker” Leonard Straker – who released Sparrow’s 1970 “Live at The Blue Coronet in Brooklyn” album and called him “Birdie” – died August 27. Sparrow followed exactly one month later. “The timing of their passing feels especially poignant to us,” she told CMC.

As Calypso History Month unfolds across Trinidad and Tobago this October, it will do so under the memory of the artist most responsible for making the art form matter in the first place – and with a state funeral still to come.

RELATED:

The Sparrow Who Gave The Caribbean A Voice

The Mighty Sparrow Is No More: The Calypso Legend’s Final Chapter

Lieutenant Stitchie, Dancehall’s “Governor” Turned Gospel Icon, Dies Just Shy Of His 61st Birthday

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By News Americas Now ET EDITOR

News Americas Now, NY, NY, Mon. Sept. 28, 2026: Veteran deejay and gospel reggae icon Lieutenant Stitchie has died at age 60, just one day of his 61st birthday.

Rev. Dr. Lt. Stitchie O.D. died on Monday, September 28, 2026 at the Kingston Public Hospital just a day before his birthday. Medical personnel at KPH confirmed that the Fast and Pray deejay passed away this morning. His death comes barely 24 hours after his wife, Sophia Laing, went public appealing for blood donors after his blood count fell, and just over two years after a debilitating stroke in September 2024 left him unable to speak and with limited mobility. Through it all, she had remained hopeful, telling supporters days earlier: “So many persons who took ill after my husband are not with us. But to God be the glory, he is still in the land of the living.”

HIS LIFE

Long before he became one of gospel reggae’s most respected voices, Stitchie, born Cleveland Laing, was Spanish Town’s rising star on the competitive sound-system circuit of the early 1980s, coming up alongside future greats like Papa San and Wickerman. A former athlete and biology teacher, he broke through in 1986 with the comic hit “Wear Yuh Size,” followed by “Natty Dread,” which spent 14 weeks atop the Jamaican charts. That run made him one of dancehall’s first artists to land a major international deal, signing with Atlantic Records in 1988 and releasing three albums, including “Wild Jamaican Romances.” He went on to record a stretch no other dancehall artist has matched – 14 No. 1 songs in a single calendar year – and is credited as the first to bring dancehall to Germany and the Netherlands.

Accident

The turn came in 1997. Injured in a car accident en route to Reggae Sumfest, he performed anyway, against medical advice – and was handed a Gideon Bible by a young Canadian fan after the show. He read it that night in his hotel room and became a born-again Christian, walking away from secular dancehall to build a second career in gospel reggae, beginning with 1999’s “To God Be the Glory.” The reinvention earned him Outstanding Male Reggae Vocal Performance of the Year at the Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards, honors from JARIA and IRAWMA, two honorary doctorates, and recognition during Jamaica’s 59th Independence anniversary National Honors and Awards.

He leaves behind a catalog that bridged two worlds most artists never cross – and a title, “The Governor,” that both sides of Jamaican music agreed he’d earned.

Popular tracks includes:

Wear Yu Size – One of his most well-known and streamed classic tracks.

Natty Dread – A hard-hitting rhythm classic on the Heavenless Riddim.

Fast & Pray – A powerful roots and gospel track known for its energetic delivery.

Real Life Story – A narrative-driven lyrical track showcasing his signature fast-deejaying style.

Great Ambition – A fan-favorite track voiced on the classic Kuff Riddim.

One Blood – A notable collaborative track featuring fellow dancehall legend Papa San.

Girls Nowadays – A newer single featured on the John John Dancehall Riddims: Peanie Peanie

RELATED: The Mighty Sparrow Is No More: The Calypso Legend’s Final Chapter

The Sparrow Who Gave The Caribbean A Voice

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By Dr. Isaac Newton 

News Americas Now, NY, NY, Mon. Sept. 28, 2026: Slinger Francisco was born in Grand Roy, Grenada, but Trinidad taught him how to fly. At twenty-one, he became the Mighty Sparrow, and “Jean and Dinah” lifted him from the Carnival tent into history. He won the 1956 Calypso Monarch and Road March titles, then answered the industry’s small reward with “Carnival Boycott.” The young singer had discovered his subject: life itself. “Ten to One,” “Mae Mae,” “Sparrow Come Back Home,” “Federation,” “Kennedy and Khrushchev,” and “Dan Is the Man in the Van” followed. Politics found a melody. Social criticism found a smile. Trinidad found a voice that could tell the truth and still make people dance.

Sparrow could make the world fit inside a calypso. “Mr. Walker” crossed oceans with its meditation on race and migration. “No Money, No Love” brought economics home. “Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart” gave sorrow rhythm. “Lying Excuses,” “Congo Man,” “Saltfish,” “The Lizard,” “Village Ram,” “Obeah Wedding,” “Capitalism Gone Mad,” “Maria,” and “Whole Night We Jamming” moved through love, lust, class, color, politics, foolishness and joy. Nothing was too ordinary for art. Nothing was too serious for wit. He wrote hundreds of songs, recorded across generations and conquered Carnival again and again. Yet his greatest achievement cannot be counted. Sparrow taught Caribbean people to hear themselves.

GRENADA & TRINIDAD

Grenada gave him birth. Trinidad gave him belonging. Calypso gave him wings. He sent the sound of Port of Spain into New York, London and the wider world without leaving home behind. His music became an archive of Caribbean life: its quarrels, desires, politics, laughter, wounds and resilience. That is why “Sparrow Dead” now lands differently. At ninety-one, the voice that had travelled so far fell silent in New York. But a song does not die when its singer does. It moves into memory. It enters Carnival. It slips into steelband. It waits in the next generation’s mouth. Sparrow spent more than seven decades giving the Caribbean words for itself. The words remain.

Then came the last turn: “Salvation.” At eighty-seven, Sparrow was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist faith in New York. Before his death, his family said, he had given his life to Jesus Christ. After a lifetime spent singing about humanity, he turned toward eternity. “Jean and Dinah” opened the door. “Carnival Boycott” gave him courage. “Lying Excuses” exposed our frailty. “Only a Fool” gave heartbreak a voice. “Survival” gave him endurance. “Salvation” gave the journey its horizon. The Mighty Sparrow spent his life teaching the Caribbean to sing. In the end, he left us listening for the song beyond this world.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar, and author specializing in institutional excellence, ethical leadership, and human development. Educated at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Oakwood University, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard, he writes on leadership, governance, and the development of people and institutions. He is the author of Fix It Preacher, Face Life Squarely, and Intimate Intimacy; and coauthor of Steps to Good Governance, Daring to Hope, When Nations Kneel, and The Belief Code.

The Mighty Sparrow Is No More: The Calypso Legend’s Final Chapter

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By News Americas Now ET Editor

News Americas, NY, NY, Sun. Sept. 27, 2026: For seven decades, Slinger Francisco, aka The Mighty Sparrow, gave the Caribbean its sharpest wit – songs about power, politics, sex and everyday island life, delivered with a grin that made even his most biting lines feel like a party.

The Mighty Sparrow did not simply sing calypso. He became one of its defining voices, from the moment “Jean and Dinah” helped propel him to his first Calypso King title in 1956 to a catalogue that would eventually stretch across hundreds of recordings and reshape how the world heard Trinidad and Tobago.

But according to his family, Sparrow’s final chapter was not written in calypso at all. Before his death Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026, in New York at the age of 91, the man born in Grand Roy, Grenada, and raised into legend in Trinidad had, in his family’s words, “made his election sure by giving his heart to the Most High, Jesus Christ,” and was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist faith.

It is a quiet coda for a man whose art was rarely quiet. The performer who spent a lifetime commenting on the world around him spent his final days turning inward. He passed away peacefully in New York after a brief illness, surrounded by loved ones.

His daughter, Karen Francisco, announced his death on behalf of the family. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Trinidad and Tobago’s Calypso icon, Slinger Francisco, known to the world as ‘The Mighty Sparrow,’” she said.

The family also revealed that in his final days Sparrow was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist faith, a deeply personal spiritual turn at the close of an extraordinarily public life. He is remembered by his family as “a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, life partner and friend.”

BORN

The Mighty Sparrow (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

Born in 1935 in Grand Roy, Grenada, Francisco was still an infant when his family relocated to Trinidad, the island whose Carnival culture and calypso tents would shape the rest of his life. He took the name “Sparrow” for a quickness — of wit, tongue and instinct — that would become inseparable from his performances. By the time he broke through in the 1950s with songs such as “Jean and Dinah,” he had already announced himself as one of the sharpest voices calypso had produced.

What followed was one of the most decorated careers in Caribbean music history. Sparrow became an eight-time Calypso Monarch and a multiple Road March champion, titles that helped cement his reputation as the “Calypso King of the World.” His catalogue crossed decades and moods – from the social commentary of songs like “Slave,” to the playful mischief of “Melda (Obeah Wedding)” and “Congo Man,” Carnival favorites including “Dan Is The Man” and “Saltfish,” and the romance, satire and double entendre that kept audiences listening from Port of Spain to New York and London.

Alongside contemporaries such as Lord Kitchener, Sparrow helped carry calypso from a regional art form onto the world stage, opening doors for generations of Caribbean performers who followed. Trinidad and Tobago recognized his contribution with some of the country’s highest honors, including the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the Chaconia Medal. He was also awarded an OBE.

TRIBUTES

Mighty Sparrow attends the 2024 Caribbean Music Awards at Kings Theatre on August 29, 2024 in Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Marleen Moise/Getty Images)

Tributes began pouring in across the Caribbean following news of his death. Trinidadian politician Stuart Young described Sparrow as “a true legend” and praised the lasting contribution his music made to Caribbean cultural life. Arrangements for a public celebration of his life are expected to be announced in the coming days. For seventy years, The Mighty Sparrow gave the Caribbean its soundtrack and its conscience, set to a calypso beat. And after a lifetime spent singing about the Caribbean and all its contradictions, his family says Sparrow’s final declaration was one of faith.

SONGS

His many songs included:

Again
Ah Fraid Pussy Bite Me
And I Love Her So
Bendwood Dick
Bongo
Boogie Beat
Calypso Boogaloo
Calypso Twist
Can’t You See You’re Meant For Me
Carnival Woman
Carlton Peeping at Me
Chinese Love Affair
Congo Man
Corbeau Sheltering Rain
Country Girl
Dan Is the Man (In the Van)
Dead or Alive
Dear Sparrow
Doh Drop the Tempo
Don’t Go Joe
Dorothy
Dragon Dance
Drunk and Disorderly
Du Yemi, Du
English Diplomacy
Eve
Federation
Good Citizen
Gu Nu Gu
Gun Slingers
Harry & Mama
Harry in the Piggery
Hello People
How You Jamming So
Idi Amin
If
I Love You So
I Should Have Told You
Jack Palance
Jane
Jean and Dinah
Jean Marrabunta
Jemma on the Ferris Wheel
Jook For Jook
Kennedy & Khrushchev
King Kong
Let Me Try Again
Life Down in Hell
Lion and Donkey (Rematch)
Love African Style
Mad Bomber
Madam Dracula
Mae Mae (May May)
Mama Dis Is Mas
Mango Vert
Man Like to Feel
Margie
Maria
Mas in Caracas
Mas in Madison Square Gardens
Memories
Miss Mary
Miss Tourist
Miss Universe
Monica Dou Dou
More Cock
Mother’s Love
Mother-in-Law
Mr. Herbert
Mr. Walker
My Pussin’
My Way
New York Blackout
No Kind of Man at All
No Money No Love
No More Rocking and Rolling
No, Doctor, No (Situation in Trinidad)
Obeah Wedding
Only a Fool
Oriental Touch
Our Model Nation
Pan Man
Papa Rat
Pay as You Earn
Paye
Popularity Contest
Postcard to Sparrow
Rain-O-Rama
Rastamania
Reply to Melody
Robbery With V
Rope
Rose
Royal Jail
Russian Satellite
Sa Sa Yea
Sad Sweet Dreamer
Sailor Man
Saltfish
Same Time, Same Place
Sell the Pussy
Short Little Shorts
Simpson (The Funeral Agency Man)
Sixty Million French Men
Sixty Seven
Soca Man
Sparrow Come Back Home
Sparrow Dead
Sparrow Dread
Sparrow Versus Melody Picong
Sparrow Water de Garden
Stella
Steering Wheel
Stupid Married Man
Ten to One Is Murder
Teresa
The Hustle
The Old Man & the Donkey
The Pan Tuner
The Road
The Slave
Tobago Girl
Tribute to Spree Simon
Trinidad Carnival
Unhappy Me
Village Ram
Well Spoken Moppers
Whole Night We Jamming
Who She Go Cry For
Willie Dead
Wood in the Fire
You’re Mine

Shaggy Taps Rick Ross And Skillibeng For Star-Studded “Lottery” Remix

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By NAN ET EDITOR, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Sept. 18, 2026: Grammy-winning reggae icon Shaggy has released an official remix of “Lottery,” bringing together Jeremih, Rick Ross, and Skillibeng for a major cross-genre collaboration out today, September 18th through Ranch Entertainment and VP Records.

The original “Lottery,” featuring Jeremih, serves as the title track of Shaggy’s 13-track studio album, released May 15, 2026, built around the philosophy of betting on yourself and trusting your instincts. The remix expands that vision, adding Rick Ross’s commanding hip-hop presence and Skillibeng’s raw new-age dancehall energy alongside the original chemistry between Shaggy and Jeremih.

‘Lottery’

“‘Lottery’ has always been about taking a chance and believing in your own hand,” Shaggy said. “Jeremih brought a smooth energy to the original, and bringing Rick Ross and Skillibeng onto the remix takes it to another level. Everybody comes from a different lane, but the chemistry works.”

The collaboration continues Shaggy’s career-long approach of blending reggae and dancehall with pop, hip-hop and R&B. Born Orville Richard Burrell in Kingston, Jamaica, Shaggy is a two-time Grammy winner and the only diamond-selling dancehall artist in history, having sold over 40 million records worldwide since breaking through with “Oh Carolina” and later “Boombastic” and “Hot Shot.” Beyond music, his work spans film, theater and philanthropy, including his Shaggy Make a Difference Foundation, which supports Jamaica’s healthcare system.

The “Lottery” remix is available to view here

NewsAmericasNow will continue covering major releases from Caribbean artists.

A Hollywood Star For This Caribbean Heritage Actress

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By NAN ET Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Sept. 15, 2026: Top Caribbean heritage actress Nia Long will be honored with the 2,857th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, September 16th in the category of Motion Pictures, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced. ‘

Long’s Caribbean roots run deep across several islands. Her maternal grandfather, Clyde Vernon Gillman, was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Long has spoken warmly about her connection to Trinidadian culture and food. Her maternal grandmother, Pearl Miriam Gittens, was born in Grenada, with family roots extending to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Barbados. Together, those ties connect the Brooklyn-born actress to Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Barbados – making her Hollywood milestone a proud Caribbean diaspora moment.

The ceremony will take place tomorrow, September 16th, at 11:30 a.m. PT at 6150 Hollywood Boulevard and will be emceed by Variety correspondent Angelique Jackson, with guest speakers including producer Michael ” Michael ” Jackson and Snoop Dogg. The event will stream live at walkoffame.com.

Caribbean heritage Nia Long attends the 2026 BET Awards at Peacock Theater on June 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Brianna Bryson/FilmMagic)

WALL OF FAME ON LONG

“Nia is such a beloved and talented actress, and we’re so excited to celebrate her incredible career with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” said Ana Martinez, Walk of Fame producer. “She has brought so many unforgettable characters to life and has connected with audiences for decades.”

ABOUT LONG

Long was born on October 30, 1970, in Brooklyn, New York, to parents who were both educators and artists. After her parents divorced when she was young, she moved with her mother to Iowa City before settling in South Los Angeles. She studied ballet, jazz, guitar and acting while attending St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood, then went on to build a celebrated acting career, rising to prominence through roles in Boyz n the Hood and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air before becoming a fan favorite in films including Friday, Love Jones, Soul Food and The Best Man. Her most recent film, “Michael,” the Michael Jackson biopic in which she starred as Katherine Jackson, became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time worldwide following its April 2026 release. A four-time NAACP Award winner, Long recently wrapped Netflix’s “Don’t Ever Wonder” alongside her “Love Jones” co-star Larenz Tate, and is set to reunite with Ice Cube for “Are They Gone Yet?”

Long has also maintained ties to the region by supporting the Sterling Children’s Home in Barbados, where she has contributed her time as a motivational speaker. She is also the mother of two sons. Long was previously engaged to former NBA player and coach Ime Udoka, with whom she shares her younger son; the couple ended their relationship in 2022.

NewsAmericasNow will continue celebrating Caribbean heritage across Hollywood and beyond.

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Caribbean Music Awards Honor For Calypso Rose, Patra, Shyne And Alan Cavé

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By NAN ET EDITOR, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Sept. 9, 2026: Four Caribbean music icons will receive special honors at the 2026 Caribbean Music Awards, set for Sept. 19, at the National Academy for the Performing Arts in Trinidad and Tobago.

Legendary calypsonian Calypso Rose, Jamaican dancehall star Patra, Belizean recording artist and former government official Shyne, and Haitian-American singer-songwriter Alan Cavé will be recognized for their contributions to Caribbean music and culture.

CALYPSO ROSE

Calypso Rose will receive the Elite Calypso Honor, celebrating a career spanning more than six decades. The Tobago-born trailblazer made history as the first woman to win Trinidad and Tobago’s Road March title and later gained international acclaim with her platinum-selling album Far From Home.

PATRA

Patra will receive the Lifetime Achievement Honor for her influence on dancehall, reggae and global Black music. Born in Westmoreland, Jamaica, she rose to international fame in the 1990s and became one of dancehall’s most recognizable female stars.

Her 1993 debut album, Queen of the Pack, became the first album by a Jamaican female artist to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart and was later certified Gold in the United States. The project included her signature hit “Worker Man,” while other popular songs included “Romantic Call,” “Scent of Attraction,” “Black Cinderella” and her remake of Grace Jones’ “Pull Up to the Bumper.”

SHYNE

Shyne will receive the Global Ambassador Honor in recognition of his evolution from internationally known recording artist to cultural advocate, humanitarian, and public servant. His 2000 self-titled debut album entered the Billboard 200 at No. 5 and earned Gold certification. He later moved into public service in Belize and has also served as the country’s Music and Goodwill Ambassador.

Alan Cavé

Alan Cavé will receive the Elite Konpa Honor for his influence on Haitian music and the global konpa movement. Known as the “King of Kompa Love,” Cavé has spent more than three decades shaping the genre through his songwriting, distinctive vocals, and work with the group Zin and as a solo artist.

The awards ceremony will serve as the centerpiece of the Caribbean Music Awards Elite Weekend Experience, a three-day celebration running Sept. 18-20 across Trinidad and Tobago. The weekend will include a welcome reception, industry events, cultural activations, fan experiences, the awards ceremony, an official after-party, and a special steelpan celebration featuring Stars and Steel.

This year’s theme, “Sounds of the Caribbean,” highlights artists whose work has helped expand the global reach of Caribbean music. The 2026 ceremony also marks a milestone for the Caribbean Music Awards. After three years in Brooklyn, New York, the awards will make their international debut in Trinidad and Tobago.

RELATED: Dolly Parton And Her Surprising Jamaica Connection