Millie Small Passed Away!

Millie Small passed away.

You may have heard of Jamaican singer and songwriter, Millie Small. She was best known for the 1964 single, "My Boy Lollipop" which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles and US Billboard Hot 100.

She was the first in the Caribbean to release a major hit and became a famous performer.

She passed away on May 5 in England from a stroke.

She was born in Clarendon, Jamaica as the daughter of a sugar plantation overseer. She was one of seven brothers and five sisters. She began her career as singer and taking part in talent contests.

She won her first talent contest at the age of 12.

She would pursue a career that would take her to the United States and United Kingdom.

Listen to her album here.





She was called the younger version of Shirley Goodman because of how see sounded similar to the famed singer.

Her first recording in London, "Don't You Know" didn't chart in the UK. But she would start experimenting with a new sound called ska. She would sing the single, "My Boy Lollipop and the song went successful. The song was a play off Barbie Gaye's hit.

It was very popular single and gain traction in the states. She would be dubbed the "The Blue Beat Girl."

She released two albums during her career. The albums My Boy Lollipop and Time Will Tell were her only albums.

She was reclusive and destitute. She would avoid the press and rarely do interviews. She told the press that she lived in a youth hostel with her toddler daughter. In the late 1980s she admits that the fame got to her and she said that she rather be writing, painting, songwriting and raising her daughter.

During her time, she didn't have many serious relationships. She did briefly date Peter Asher.

She traveled to Singapore for a brief time before settling in the United Kingdom.

Small leaves behind a daughter Jalee.