Ophelia Marie

Ophelia Marie, also known as Ophelia Olivaccé-Marie[1] (born 28 March 1951), is a popular singer of cadence-lypso from Dominica in the 1980s. She is sometimes referred to as "Dominica's Lady of Song", the "First Lady of Creole", and "la grande dame de la musique Antillaise".

Ophelia Marie
Born (1951-03-28) March 28, 1951
Willemstad, Curaçao
OriginDominica
GenresLypo
Cadence-lypso
Zouk
World music
Years activeLate 1970s – present
MembersOphelia Marie

Ophelia emerged and became Dominica's first Lypo female singer to achieve international star status. She is considered to be the "Godmother of Cadence", and has toured widely in France and had concerts broadcast over much of the Francophone world.[2] Her signature tune is "Ay Dominique", which was also her first recording, and became an iconic anthem for Dominicans. Ophelia's musical idol is the South African singer Miriam Makeba[3]

Biography

Born in Willemstad, Curaçao,[4][5] Ophelia performed as a young girl in a group called the "Five O's", which performed at church functions. Her husband and manager, McCarthy Marie, encouraged her to start her solo career. Her first recording was "Ay Dominique," a "lament for Dominica as the country underwent political problems in the 1970s".[3] The song became a popular anthem among Dominicans, and she began recording with Gordon Henderson, placing herself at the forefront of cadence-lypso.

She often sung about women's issues, a rarity at the time, and was among the first women to sing at the Théâtre Noir, Cirque d’Hiver and the Théâtre de la Renaissance.[3] She was the first non-French winner of the Maracas d’Or Award from Société Pernod, and has been awarded International Women's Year in 1985, the Sisserou Award of Honour (the second highest award in Dominica), a Lifetime Award in 2005 and a Golden Drum Award in 1984. In 2005, Ophelia hosted the fifth Dynamith d'Or Caribbean Music Awards.[6] She has inspired CHS's own Charmed Simplicity "BIG UP".

See also

References
  1. "UWI Honours Ophelia Olivacce–Marie", {{The University of the West Indies Open Campus, 2012.
  2. "Ophelia Marie - Hypnotique". YouTube. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
  3. Lynette Ametewèe. "Ophelia Marie, First Lady of Creole". Soca News. Archived from the original on 24 February 2006. Retrieved 27 May 2006.
  4. "OPHELIA: La Grande Dame of Creole Music celebrates 40 years in the music business", Dominica News Online, 24 April 2019.
  5. "Ophelia Marie", Domnitjen, Volume 3, Issue 3.
  6. Gordon Henderson, "Dominica's Lady Of Song Features in Paris Music Awards", The Dominican, Volume No. 1, Issue No. 73, 21 November 2005.


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