MILLIE SMALL, “MY BOY LOLLIPOP” SINGER, DIES AT 73
Millie Small, the Jamaican singer whose 1964 hit, “My Boy Lollipop,” introduced the upbeat rhythms of ska to international audiences, died Tuesday in London. She was 73.
Her death was announced by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records and the song’s producer. The announcement did not specify the cause, but Blackwell told the Jamaica Observer that Small had suffered a stroke.
Although “My Boy Lollipop” was Small’s only major hit, reaching No. 2 on the American and British charts, it was a significant one. It was a turning point in Jamaican music that brought the island’s signature sound to a wider audience, opening the door for artists, like Bob Marley, who would popularize ska’s rhythmic successor, reggae.
“My Boy Lollipop” was the first big success for Blackwell, whose Island label would go on to release music by Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Roxy Music and U2.
As ska’s breakthrough act, Small was a global ambassador with a spunky personality and a distinctively high-pitched, pneumatic singing voice. Just 17 and a country girl, she toured the world with Blackwell as her chaperone and became a star in swinging London, where her vivaciousness and her dancing captivated TV audiences.
“The ska sound was starting to filter through in the U.K., but there was no personality who looked great,” British journalist Vivien Goldman, an authority on Jamaican music, said. “Millie was sassy; she was sparky. She had that effervescent quality.”
Small lived most of her adult life in England and is survived by her daughter, Jaelee Small, a singer based in London.