Ophelia Marie - Biography

Biography

Ophelia performed as a young girl in a group called the "Five O's", which performed at church functions. Her husband and manager, McCarthy Marie, encouraged her to start her solo career. Her first recording was "Ay Dominique," a "lament for Dominica as the country underwent political problems in the 1970s". The song became a popular anthem among Dominicans, and she began recording with Gordon Henderson, placing herself at the forefront of cadence-lypso. She often sung about women's issues, a rarity at the time, and was among the first women to sing at the Théâtre Noir, Cirque d’Hiver and the Théâtre de la Renaissance. Ophalia sings a slow tempo form of cadencelypso - a slower, more lilting version of zouk call zouk-love.