End to a Sterling career

Sunday’s memorial service for 1970s reggae songstress Yvonne Sterling signalled the end of an era spanning 50 years of friendship with fellow Big Yard, Orange Street, resident and schoolmate Tony Parkins.

Parkins, who attended Kingston City School alongside Sterling, delivered a heartfelt tribute in song on behalf of the ‘Beat Street’ community in Kingston that birthed her and other musical greats.

“She has been a long-lasting friend,” said Parkins, before belting out the lyrics to Things in Life, a song by Sterling’s one-time pal and contemporary, the late Dennis Brown.

Sterling, 64, was laid to rest on Sunday three weeks after being pronounced dead in hospital, where she had been recovering from a stroke.

Her rediscovery by a Gleaner reporter, from a serendipitous assigment on the November floods in Jamaica, saw a whirlwind transformation in nine weeks.

There was an outpouring of support by fans as far as Brazil, and local entertainers Richie Stephens and Little Lenny went on a fund-raising drive. In no time the If You Love Me (Let Me Know) singer was taken out of squalor in New Haven to a home in Portmore and rekindled her musical career, the trio recording a song titled Thank You Lord.

Her family, though in mourning, heaped praise during her eulogy on all those who played an integral part in Yvonne’s renaissance, though short-lived.

Sterling’s niece, Tamara Harrison, thanked The Gleaner and lauded Claude ‘Big Stone’ Sinclair, Richie Stephens, Little Lenny, and others for their roles in helping her reclaim her voice and stardom.

See related story on C2.