Ricardo Drue, a soca singer famend in his native Antigua and Barbuda and among the many Caribbean neighborhood around the globe, has died on the age of 38.
A number of Caribbean retailers reported that Drue was discovered unresponsive, and was rushed to a hospital in St. John’s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda. Hours later, Drue’s fiancé and fellow soca singer, Patrice Roberts, shared a video on Instagram of the couple sharing a kiss accompanied by a number of crying emojis.
Drue was a father of 5. He and Roberts turned engaged final yr.
Born in Antigua and Barbuda and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Drue grew up immersed in R&B, reggae and soca.
He began his profession performing in soca boy bands and gained acclaim as a finalist in soca music competitions. Drue might be finest identified for his 2017 single, “Vagabond,” and likewise opened for fellow vocalists Sean Kingston and Fats Joe.
He usually carried out throughout the Caribbean, but additionally for members of the Caribbean diaspora in the USA. The singer took the stage at festivals in Queens and the Bronx in New York, in addition to Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla., the place he reportedly lived in recent times. Over the previous yr, his recognition rose on streaming platforms and his streams on Spotify grew from 100,000 in 2022 to 1.2 million this yr.
He celebrated the milestone with a put up on Instagram, sharing screenshots of his Spotify Wrapped statistics, writing, “What’s your motivation to struggle via all of it? Mine is my kids!!!! Thanks, guys!! we’re simply getting beginning.”
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne was amongst those that mourned Drue.
“His passing was extraordinarily unhappy and surprising. He was certainly one of our greatest soca artists who loved the patronage, admiration and respect of our folks. He can be immensely missed” Brown stated.
Soca determine DJ Non-public Ryan stated in a tweet that he had simply spoken to Drue on the morning of his demise “about cherishing life” and he referred to as the singer’s demise “an enormous loss.”
DJ JEL identified that their music neighborhood was nonetheless reeling from the lack of Clyde Tha Outlaw, additionally a significant determine within the soca and Caribbean music scene. He died in late November in a automobile crash in Trinidad and Tobango, based on the nation’s native publication, Newsday.
“The trade barely course of Clyde Tha Outlaw, now we hadda course of Drue,” he lamented on X. “Tomorrow isn’t promised.”
Tenille Clarke, a author and entrepreneur from Trinidad and Tobago, referred to as Drue “each Soca star’s largest fan.” She shared video of Drue laughing with different artists onstage throughout a rehearsal.
“Even throughout rehearsals,” she wrote in a tweet, “Drue would be sure to knew that the love was there. Might his reminiscence be a blessing.”
