“Long before the ‘Time’s Up’ and the ‘Me Too’ movements took root, Singing Sandra embraced the women’s movement and provided our women with the rallying call to ‘die with their dignity, was how Senator Randall Mitchell, the Minister of Tourism and Culture described Sandra Des Vignes Millington, aka Singing Sandra.
Sandra was born in 1957 in East River but was raised in Morvant, Trinidad and Tobago. She endured many challenges in her teenage years and was rebellious. She sometimes skipped school because she was forced to work to earn money.
Her big break came in 1984 when calypsonian Dr. Zhivago asked her to perform two of his songs. The following year Mighty Sparrow recruited her for his Youth Brigade tent at the carnival. As her music career began to climb, more success came for Sandra in 1987. She won the national Calypso Queen competition in 1987 and added the Carifesta Monarch and Calypso Queen of the World titles in 1992. Her success did not stop there. She became the second woman after Calypso Rose to win the Trinidad and Tobago Calypso Monarch title in 1999. Four years later, she made history by becoming the first woman to win the Monarch title twice, capturing the top prize of $70,000 and a Honda Civic.
Over her career, Sandra has used her music to communicate personal, social, and political views. She was seen as an educator through her songs, entertaining national and international audiences with her many calypsos over the decades.
In January 2021, news of Singing Sandra’s death rocked the world via a posting on Facebook. Senator Mitchell said then: “Singing Sandra was true to her word, and as we mourn her passing, the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago in general, and the cultural fraternity, in particular, will always be thankful for her contribution, which has made us a richer nation.”
Some of Sandra’s most popular songs are:
Die with Dignity
Song of Healing
Voices from the ghetto
Lie Lie
