Just a few weeks after it was announced that the Potters Main Road would be renamed after the Burning Flames Band, another popular musician will see his name etched on to signage on the nation’s roadways.
Calypsonian great, Sir Mclean Emmanuel, stage name King Short Shirt will receive the honor as Anchorage Road will be renamed the Sir Mclean Emmanel Highway.
Cabinet Spokesperson Maurice Merchant made the announcement during the Post Cabinet Press Briefing on Thursday morning.
There is no timeline on when this will happen.
King Short Shirt is best known as one of Antigua’s longest standing and most successful calypsonians but later producing gospel music.
Short Shirt was the most successful challenger for the coveted Road March title, with seven wins including such songs as “Lucinda”, “Jammin”, “Summer Festival” and “J’Ouvert Rhythm”.
The 1976 hit “Tourist Leggo”, which placed second at Trinidad and Tobago’s Road March to Lord Kitchener’s “Flag Woman” created such a stir during Trinidad’s Carnival that it forced that country’s authorities to initiate a ban on all foreign tunes from the Road March competition. It did, however, win the Antiguan Road March.
He also won the local Calypso Monarch crown 15 times and the regional calypso crown seven times
In 2002 he received a knighthood from the government of Antigua and Barbuda for his contributions to the promotion of calypso.
In 2023, he received an honorary Doctor of Letters award from the University of the West Indies Five Islands campus.
Earlier this year, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural Antigua and Barbuda National Music Awards.
You know how long South street supposed to be renamed?
It’s been so long I even forgot after who it would have been named.
I prefer if the government just went ahead and surprise us with these developments instead of saying it happening but no timeline given
The street that Kings Short-Shirt grew up on should named after instead of naming Anchorage Road after him.
This is the kind of recognition our cultural icons deserve. Congratulations to Sir Mclean Emmanuel
This is a meaningful tribute, but it also reminds us of how rich Antigua’s music history is. So many deserving artists!