Lord Creator died at home, just as he wanted
‘Kingston Town’ singer hailed for ‘significant contribution to Jamaican music’
Published:Monday | July 3, 2023 | 1:04 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
It was in 1962 that Kenrick ‘Lord Creator’ Patrick recorded the song Independent Jamaica and it became one of the top songs marking the island’s independence from Britain on August 6, 1962. In 2022, on Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence, the Government conferred on Lord Creator the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) for his contribution to the development of Jamaican music.
“I was happy for him because it was long overdue. And he was happy as well,” said Neseline Patrick, the woman who has been by Lord Creator’s side for more than 30 years. Last Friday, Patrick watched him take his last breath.
“He always said that he wanted to die at home; not in any hospital,” she shared, adding that he woke up that morning feeling well and asking for ice cream.
“He had become an ice cream lover. And that morning his voice was so strong. He ate the ice cream and drank some water, but he threw up a bit. He asked me to stretch out his legs for him in the bed and I did. But he called and asked me to stretch them out again. And I said ‘I did’. So I did it again and then went over to him as ask what happen. His eyes were open, but he didn’t look like he was breathing. Then his eyes tek time shut and I realised that he was gone. Quietly ... just like that,” Patrick recalled.
Unsure of what really took place, Patrick called a neighbour, who came over and looked at Lord Creator and also concluded that he had died.
The calypso, R&B, ska, and rocksteady artiste, who was originally from Trinidad, but who had made Jamaica his home since the ‘60s, was 87 years old. He was residing in Golden Grove, Hanover, with his wife.
“He would be 88 on August 21, the same day that is Usain Bolt birthday,” Patrick said. “I am happy that I was at home, because last Friday I had my cousin’s funeral in Kingston, but I decided not to go. And, I would normally go to the market on a Friday morning, but I didn’t go, either.”
She explained that Lord Creator, who had prostate issues, as well as diabetes and high blood pressure, had suffered the second of two strokes in 2005. He had done surgery on his back in 2013, and six years later he could no longer walk. He collected his OD last year while sitting in a wheelchair.
“He was admitted to hospital in December last year and he left there with bedsores ... but that was healing, as I had a nurse who came in [and] dressed it. But with all of that, he was such a joy to be around. Just the other day he was saying that he wanted to see his little grandchildren. So they came over on Father’s Day and him and them was in the bed eating ice cream,” Patrick, said, adding that she will certainly miss him.
In paying tribute to Lord Creator, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange lauded his “significant contribution to Jamaican music and was popular particularly for his song, Independent Jamaica, which captured Jamaica’s joyous mood when we gained Independence 61 years ago”.
“We consider it an honour that the Trinidad-born Lord Creator adopted Jamaica, where he made what was his biggest hit along with other popular songs such as Evening News and Don’t Stay Out Late. Worthy of note, too, is that the UB40 version of another of Lord Creator’s hit songs, Kingston Town, went platinum in March 2023,” Minister Grange said.
Expressing sympathy to his family and friends, Grange added, “His music will live on and Jamaicans will forever thank him for immortalising in song what is our greatest celebration to date, our Independence.”
In 1989, British band UB40 recorded a cover version of Kingston Town which reached number four on the UK Singles Chart and number one in France and the Netherlands. The success of the single meant huge royalties for Lord Creator, who had by then reluctantly moved back to Trinidad in 1984.
In a 2014 Gleaner article, the interviewer stated, “Creator told me that, while in Trinidad, he suffered a stroke and was hospitalised for 19 days. While on his sick bed, he got the news of his life in 1989 - news that would change his life forever. It was like winning the lottery, he said.”
With the financial windfall, he secured houses for himself and his children in Jamaica and, according to the article, gave producer Clancy Eccles $250,000, out of goodwill. However, Eccles later claimed 50 per cent of the song, saying that he was also the co-writer, but the publishers eventually ruled in favour of Lord Creator, who maintained that Kingston Town was a song which he had written, originally titled Babylon, in which he switched the name ‘Babylon’ for ‘Kingston’.
Patrick shared that the family has a tentative date of July 23 for the thanksgiving service for Lord Creator, who died leaving eight children and several grandchildren.