Justin "Hero" Cassell

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Justin "Hero" Cassell was a calypsonian from Montserrat, widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the island's calypso. He began performing in the 1950s. Wikipedia says no one won the Montserrat calypso crown more times than he did, and that he had a long rivalry with the calypsonian Reality through the 1970s and 1980s. He was the older brother of Alphonsus "Arrow" Cassell, and Lorenzo "Young Challenger" Cassell was also his brother; the Musical Traditions series on calypso counts Hero and Young Challenger among the calypso kings of Montserrat. Arrow's Wikipedia entry also credits Hero as the composer of "Hot Hot Hot". A channel in his name carries "Old Time Sayings" from 1983. He was still singing late in life, appearing with De Bear at the Montserrat Calypso Finals in 2019 with "Tiney Winey", and singing the same song at a Remembering Arrow event. He died in February 2024 at 80, and a junior calypso and soca competition now carries his name.