Tributes poured in for Soca icon Oscar Dennis Benjamin, affectionately known as Oscar B, as family, friends, and well-wishers gathered on Monday to celebrate his life and legacy.
The celebrated Tobagonian soca icon, who was the lead singer of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, passed away on June 28th at the age of 57 following complications from a stroke suffered in May. He was laid to rest on Monday, July 13th.
At the funeral service, family and friends shared heartfelt memories of the singer, beginning with his daughter’s tribute.
“To the Caribbean, he was Oscar B. To audiences, he was the entertainer. To fellow musicians, he was a respected colleague. To friends, he was the life of the party, but to us, he was simply Daddy, and of all the titles he carried through his remarkable life, we believe that was the one he treasured most.”
The graduating class of 1985 from Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School also shared cherished memories of the musician.
“One memory that has stayed with us over the years still makes us smile: the football team trained relentlessly before school and again every afternoon under a very strict coach, yet without fail Oscar would somehow disappear from afternoon training. Before long someone would find him not on the football field but at choir practice. Coach would shake his head and say, ‘That boy again, like he want to be a singer.’ We all laugh about it today because as it turned out, Coach couldn’t have been more right.”
Oscar B’s passing came just hours before the Tobago Family & Friends Healing Concert at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, an event originally organised to raise funds for his medical treatment.
Instead of a fundraiser, the gathering became an emotional celebration of his life, with fellow musicians, friends, and fans paying tribute to a man whose music had been the heartbeat of Caribbean carnivals and festivals for decades.