Sandra DesVignes-Millington (10 December 1957 - 28 January 2021),[1] better known as Singing Sandra, was a Trinidadian calypsonian who won the Calypso Monarch title at the 1999 and 2003 carnivals.
Sandra was born in 1957 in East Dry River, and raised in Morvant, Trinidad and Tobago. She was born into a poor family and faced many hardships through her early teenage years. Singing Sandra never met her father and she was the only child of the family, but her singing talent was evident from an early stage, given that her grandmother was one of the best singers in her village in Tobago. She was baptized in a spiritual Baptist church when she was fifteen years old and during a later stage of her life she became a practising Orisha.
From an early age, she sang and acted as a child, and performed in a few 'Best Village' productions. She was approached in 1984 by calypsonian Dr Zhivago to perform two of his songs, and the following year was recruited to Mighty Sparrow's Youth Brigade tent. Her exceptional talent and persistence in hard work and music resulted in her winning the National Calypso Queen competition in 1987. From that moment and after, her career accelerated at an exponential rate. She went on to win the Carifesta Monarch and Calypso Queen of the World titles in 1992 and also performed at the Reggae Sunsplash festival that year.
Later, she formed the group United Sisters along with Lady B, Tigress, and Marvellous Marva, yet she continued to perform as a solo artist and consequently won the 'Best Nation Building Song' award, along with a $5,000 prize, at the 1997 carnival for the song "One Destiny One Heart".
As a result of her career as an artist, she was a well-respected musician of calypso and soca. Her achievements were numerous. She was the second woman to win Trinidad's Calypso Monarch title, winning in 1999 with the songs "Song for Healing" and "Voices from the Ghetto". She was able to finish in third place in 2000 and fifth place in 2001. In 2003 she won the title for a second time, with "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and "Ancient Rhythm", winning a Honda Civic motorcar and a $70,000 cash prize, becoming the first female calypsonian to win the title twice. She placed third in 2005 and second in 2006.