News
Corey Connelly
The late Sherwin Cunningham, 55, received a major cultural send-off on Thursday, reflecting the songwriter and calypsonian’s deep love for music and the performing arts.
The former manager of the kaiso D’Masters tent in Tobago died last week on Tuesday after a sudden illness.
Dozens of people gathered at the Elizabeth Dennis Baird Recreation Ground in Mason Hall to pay their last respects to a man who has dedicated his life to developing and promoting Tobago’s culture and the talents of its up-and-coming artists.
Cunningham’s considerable influence was evident among the mourners as politicians and religious leaders sat side by side with well-known cultural activists and artists he had mentored over the years.
Mason Hall singer Sharon Phillips sang an emotional rendition of the R&B song, It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday, popularized by Boys II Men.
She prefaced her performance by saying that Cunningham was the brother she never had.
An emotional Phillips said she was in the studio recording one of Cunningham’s songs when she heard the news of his death.
She added that they were working on several projects which she said would put Tobago on the international stage. Phillips told the mourners that all projects started by Cunningham would be finished.
She said his sudden death testifies to the fact that time is not promised to anyone.