Caribbean singing legend Millie Small has been honoured with a blue plaque outside her Shepherds Bush home.
The plaque was unveiled with the Nubian Jak Community Trust and Millie’s daughter Jaelee Small on Saturday (23 October) to a large crowd, including from local record labels Trojan and Island Records. While reggae singer Winston Francis performed.
Millie shot to international stardom with her 1964 single My Boy Lollipop which sold 7 million copies – making her the world’s most successful female Caribbean singer of her time.
Listen to My Boy Lollipop on YouTube
Her breakthrough single was also credited with ushering in the new genre of ska and reggae into the popular music scene.
Cllr Sharon Holder, H&F Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said: “We are delighted to install a heritage plaque recognising Millie Small’s presence in the borough and her contribution to popular music.
“This is part of our wider programme to diversify the public realm by visibly celebrating the borough’s Black heritage, history and music all year-round.”
From Jamaica to Shepherds Bush
Born Millicent Dolly May Small in 1947, in Clarendon, Jamaica, Millie knew she wanted to be a singer and moved to Kingston as a teenager.
There she successfully auditioned for the legendary Studio One record producer, Coxsone Dodd, before her musical talents caught the attention of Island Records founder Chris Blackwell.
Chris became her mentor and manager, and the pair moved to London in 1963, when Millie was 16, to make music.
Her first release made little impact, but on her second recording Chris worked with well-known composer Ernest Ranglin. Ranglin and his team encouraged Millie to record My Boy Lollipop in the style of Bluebeat and the song became an international hit.
Dr Jak Beula, CEO of the Nubian Jak Community Trust, said: “Before there was Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker or Bob Marley, there was Millie Small.
"She paved the way! She gave Island Records their first international hit, and it is an honour and a privilege to memorialise her with her first blue plaque.”
Millie is not the first pioneer in reggae history that we’ve honoured with a blue plaque. Last year the legendary Pecking Records shop received a plaque at its original Askew Road location.
Shepherds Bush home
As she got older Millie recorded less and turned her creative flair to painting.
In 2011, she received the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander from the Governor General of Jamaica for her contribution to the Jamaican music industry.
She spent the last two decades of her life living in Shepherds Bush and died aged 72 of a stroke in 2020.
“It’s a tremendous honour for my mother to be recognised with a blue plaque,” said daughter Jaelee. “Thank you to everyone who helped make this happen.”
