A poet, writer, actor and activist, Maya Angelou died Wednesday at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She was 86.
Her 1969 award winning autobiography, "I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings" was her calling card for readers around the globe. But 25 years before she wrote that, Maya Angelou was a Calypso singer.
In 1957 she released the album Miss Calpyso. She performed in clubs in the San Francisco area under her birth name, Marguerite Johnson, and sometimes under the name Rita.
But her manager and others persuaded her to change her name to Maya Angelou. And the rest, as they say, is history.
She rode that calypso wave literally to the big screen; appearing first in the film "Calypso Heat Wave."
However, the Calypso thing was just a flirtation.
As the story goes, when Maya Angelou met Billie Holiday in 1958, the jazz singer told her, "You're going to be famous but it won't be for singing."
Holiday was right.
Still, there is something in the voice of Miss Calypso. You be the judge.
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!