RIP Mighty Sparrow (9 Jul 1935 - 27 Sep 2026). Legendary #Trinbagonian #calypso and #soca vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist born Slinger Francisco, in Grand Roy, Grenada. Widely regarded as the most influential figure in the history of calypso music. Though born in Grenada, he was raised from infancy in Port-of-Spain, #Trinidad, after his family relocated there in 1937, and it is with Trinidad and Tobago that he is most closely identified. Sparrow's breakthrough came in 1956, when his composition "Jean and Dinah", a commentary on the withdrawal of American servicemen from Trinidad after World War II, won him the National Calypso King title and reshaped the art form's lyrical ambitions. Over a career spanning more than seven decades, he has won Trinidad's Calypso Monarch title eight times and the Carnival Road March competition eight times, records that established him as, in his own popularized phrase, the "Calypso King of the World." Beyond his competitive dominance, Sparrow's significance lies in his fusion of biting social and political satire with melodic accessibility, tackling colonialism, race, sexuality, and #Caribbean identity in songs such as "Slave," "Education," and "Congo Man."