Lord Pretender

Lord Pretender (8 September 1917 – 22 January 2002) was the stage name of Aldric Farrell, M.O.M., H.B.M. a calypsonian vocalist born on the island of Tobago widely acknowledged to be a "master" of extempo, a lyrically improvised form of calypso music. Starting with an impromptu performance at the age of 12, his career spanned nearly seven decades until cancer of the larynx forced him to retire in the mid-1990s. In 1957, Lord Pretender won the prestigious "Calypso King" competition. Honoured by the Trinidad and Tobago government for his services to calypso in 1972, he went on to receive the island's Hummingbird Medal in 1994.