Queen Singing Jackie
Presently, it’s the norm to have many female calypsonians participating in competitions. However, we must cherish the strides which women have made in the once male-dominated arena. To do so here in our Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, one has to pay homage to a cherished pioneer, Jacqueline Hazel-Leader popularly known as Singing Jackie who was endowed with the Medal of Honour in the field of calypso and music in 2019.
Jacqueline Hazel-Leader began singing as a student at the Sandy Point High School which has been renamed Charles E Mills Secondary School. She entered her first Junior Calypso Competition in 1974 and placed second runner up. In the 1975 Junior Calypso Competition, she won the first runner up position. In 1976, she made her debut in the Senior Calypso Competition and emerged a finalist. From 1974-1984, she competed every year and has held her own in the finals of this tough competition.
In 1995, she entered the first National Female Calypso Competition and placed first runner up with “Women on the Move”, her timely song applauding and encouraging female calypsonians, and women in general.
From 1996 through 2017, “Jackie”, as she is affectionately called, has continued to hold her own in both the Female National Calypso Competition which she has won four times, and the male dominated National Calypso Monarch Competition.
Queen Singing Jackie has received several Awards including:
- The Ministry of Health And Woman’s Affairs Outstanding Woman Award in Culture
- The National Carnival Award for the Development of Calypso in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis
- Long service award presented by the National Carnival Committee for years of Contribution to National Carnival
- Medal of Honour in 2019 in the field of culture
- St. Kitts Independence Committee Award in 2021 for her sterling contribution to calypso and the arts in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
- The prestigious National Women Action Committee (NWAC) Award in Trinidad which she received in 2005. The NWAC hosted the first National Calypso Queen Competition. She was the first female calypsonian from the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis to receive this award.
Queen Singing Jackie is also a trained teacher who has earned an Undergraduate Degree in the Social Sciences (Summa Cum Laude) and a Masters of Arts Degree in Education at the University of the Virgin Islands. In 2019 she was selected as Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction for excellence in teaching and for the encouragement of and dedication to the academic success of students at the Charlotte Amalie High School.
Mrs. Jacqueline Hazel Leader “Queen Singing Jackie” firmly believes that women have as much to offer as their male counterpart in any field, be it work or entertainment, and as such, should be given every opportunity to showcase their talent.
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Singing Jackie and some of her popular songs are also featured in the book below
