(Trinidad Express) Blaxx (Dexter Stewart), 60, was a true champion of the people.
For nearly five decades the singer, who was born in Point Fortin, then moved to Siparia as a boy and then Morvant, endeared himself to the Trinidad and Tobago public with his positive, wholesome, pro-country approach to music making.
Blaxx, who also spent several years living in Morvant, genuinely loved and accepted his countrymen and they returned that affection in spades. Though they regularly poked fun at the affable overweight singer, you simply could not say a bad word to soca fans about their beloved Blaxx.
That long-lasting love affair came to a heartbreaking end at 1.15 p.m. yesterday when the All Starz lead singer lost his battle with Covid-19 at the Arima General Hospital. Blaxx was hospitalised in 2020 with several health complications. He had been a patient at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the health facility for the past week.
Manager and long-time friend Giselle Gellineau-Penrose said though his family and closest friends accepted the danger his comorbidities posed to his Covid-19 diagnosis they were hoping for a miracle.
“I’m numb right now. Based on his many comorbidities and then the lash of Covid, I know he would have been in more danger than the average Covid patient. But we believe in God and that a miracle can happen. Still, we can never just accept death when it happens. We lost for words, we are hurt,” an emotional Gellineau-Penrose said during a phone call with the Express yesterday afternoon.
Despite her profound sadness, Gellineau-Penrose, however, says she takes solace in knowing Blaxx is no longer in pain. He leaves behind five children, two sons, two daughters and a stepdaughter.
“I can’t be selfish. He was tired, tired of being sick, tired of everything. Doh get me wrong, he was a fighter, but he been fighting since 2020, it’s been two years. He was tired and sometimes he would be depressed,” Gellineau-Penrose said.
Blaxx will be remembered for his soca hits “Breathless” (2008), “Tusty” (2009), “Leh Go” (2013), “Hulk” (2018), “Gyal Owner” (2019) and “Who God Bless” (2021), among others.
“Blaxx was truly a lover of his culture and his country and was proud to fly the flag of Trinidad and Tobago wherever he performed. His dynamic stage presence, infectious music and his dedication to the soca art form will not be forgotten,” Mitchell wrote.
Memorable Blue Ventures together
Blaxx started his musical journey as a teenager playing alongside his father Jerry Stewart in the family band Jerry and New School. He later joined crossover band Fucceccion where he adopted the Blaxx moniker.
“Prior to that I used to call myself sexual chocolate,” Blaxx once joked during an interview with the Express.
The “I Feel Like Hulk” singer went on to have stints in Atlantik and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires before finding a home with Blue Ventures alongside mentor Ronnie McIntosh.
“It’s a lot of memories, is a big blow for me and for the industry, a lot of memories,” a nostalgic McIntosh said yesterday, his voice trailing off, during a phone interview.
“All the times we would sit and chat about things to enhance his performance. There were a lot of times where it had to be on the job training, schooling on stage. There is theory and there is practical,” McIntosh continued.
McIntosh said he and Blaxx “communicated regularly” when he later joined Roy Cape and the All Starz and revealed “it was pleasing to see him thrive”.
“He would mention me and say a lot of things he learnt in the business is from Ronnie McIntosh. When he slip off the track I would tell him you didn’t learn that from me, so careful. Even after he started getting his string of hits we stay communicating about how to up his game. Blaxx is one of those who always had a question: ‘What you think?’ he would ask me. I liked that about him because he bring things to the table that had me thinking,” McIntosh said.
Roy “Pappy” Cape said it was a pleasure to see Blaxx blossom into the household name he is today as a member of his self-titled All Stars band. Cape, who is himself ailing with prostate cancer, added, “it is always sad when somebody who is very close to you pass away”.
“Dexter has contributed many, many years to our music and culture. He was a hell of a vocalist, not only soca, he coulda sing anything. I doh think Trinidad really hear Blaxx sing yuh know, when Blaxx sing ballads he was a champion with it,” Cape said.