Remembering Sparrow Through Song: OCPA’s Celebration of Life

The finale brought the calypsonians together on stage, but the singing reached into the audience. As the performers moved through some of Mighty Sparrow’s most popular songs, familiar words invited people to join in. Each song carried its own memories, connecting the performers and listeners through music they had known for years.

That shared remembrance was at the heart of OCPA’s Celebration of Life for Dr. Slinger Francisco, the Mighty Sparrow. The event was hosted by the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in Toronto. Members of the Organization of Calypso Performing Artistes performed selections from his extensive catalogue and spoke about their relationships with him, sharing experiences alongside the songs.

Sparrow died on September 27, 2026, aged 91. At this gathering, his music provided a way for fellow calypsonians and the community to remember what he had meant to them. The performances were accompanied by personal recollections of the man behind the songs.

One performance stood apart for me. Macomere Fifi offered a tribute that, unlike the other songs performed that evening, was not a Sparrow composition. She returned to a song previously performed as “Before You Gone,” adapting its words after his passing. As I heard it that evening, the tribute had moved from “before you’re gone” to “now that you’ve gone.”

That change gave the performance a different meaning. A tribute once addressed to Sparrow during his lifetime had become a remembrance after his death. The song carried forward the affection of the earlier version while acknowledging his absence.

The closing ensemble brought the evening back to the songs Sparrow had given his audiences. With the calypsonians gathered together and listeners joining in, the finale became a shared act of remembrance. People knew the words; singing them together gave those memories a voice.

I photographed and recorded the gathering. The accompanying collection is available on Nexus of Culture, and I plan to share the closing performance first on YouTube, followed by further recordings from the event. Those videos will be linked to the story as they become available.