MY BOY LOLLIPOP’ SINGER MILLIE SMALL DIES, AGED 73—
She had suffered a stroke, according to her friend and former producer Chris Blackwell.
Millie was most famous for her hit single My Boy Lollipop, which was Jamaica’s first million-selling single.
She was hailed for bringing the sound of ska to the UK and for having one of the top three greatest all-time hit singles of 1964, falling just behind the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
It also featured a little-known Rod Stewart playing the harmonica in the backing track – something Millie said showed how big a star he was going to become.
Chris said of Millie, who he last saw 12 years ago: “I would say she’s the person who took ska international because it was her first hit record.
“It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world. I went with her around the world because each of the territories wanted her to turn up and do TV shows and such, and it was just incredible how she handled it.
“She was such a sweet person, really a sweet person. Very funny, great sense of humour. She was really special,” he added to the Jamaica Observer.
My Boy Lollipop was an enormous hit in 1964 and even featured in the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
In 2016, Millie reflected on her incredible journey to worldwide singing sensation.
“I was born Millicent Small to parents who worked on a sugar plantation and, although we didn’t know anyone in the entertainment profession, I loved singing,” she told the Daily Express.
“I was 12 years old when I entered a posh talent contest called The Vere John’s Opportunity Hour at the Palladium in Montego Bay on Jamaica’s north coast, where I sang in front of 2,000 people.
“I don’t remember what I sang, but most of it was with my eyes shut because I was so shy. I won the second prize of 30 shillings and it was the beginning of my new life as a singer.”
She went on: “I joined Roy Panton to form a duo and we recorded our first song called We’ll Meet.
“Chris Blackwell, the boss of Island Records, heard my music and he brought me over to England to develop my singing career. I missed my parents and my brother, but they encouraged me to follow my dream.
“I arrived in London in 1963, and it felt like I was coming home, that this was where I was meant to be.
“I made a few songs, which didn’t go anywhere, and then I recorded My Boy Lollipop in 1964, which got to number two over here and number one in many parts of the world. I never had singing lessons, my voice was just something I was born with.”
Millie continued: “My life seemed very normal to me – even though I was only 17, I took fame in its stride. What helped was that I had a good manager in Chris, who looked after me like a father wherever I went.”
She retired from singing in 1970, “because it was the end of the dream and it felt like the right time”, and in 1984 she welcomed her daughter.
Millie added that since her retirement “I’ve been happy living a quiet life, sleeping and dreaming and meditating”.
“I enjoy cooking – anything with chicken, pork and fish with rice – and watching documentaries. I’ve got five beautiful cats, too,” she went on.
“I don’t miss those 60’s days. I enjoyed it while it lasted and it represented a time of pure happiness but I look to the future now that I’m older and wiser.
“I love music – reggae, hip-hop, anything that’s got rhythm. And I still play My Boy Lollipop because it’s a lovely record.
“My daughter and I are very close and I’m proud of her achievements as a writer, singer and musician; it would be nice for us to sing together one day as mother and child.”
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