Sparrow returned to Trinidad and Tobago from New York on Monday, according to the Trinidad Express. Mighty Sparrow, given name Slinger Francisco, returned home to spend time with his family and do Carnival performances, the newspaper reported. Sparrow arrived on a Caribbean Airlines flight around 1:00 pm.
The 78-year-old’s return to the twin island republic follows a bout of illness in the United Sates where he spent time in a New York hospital in a coma.
Numerous reports were circulated during the period saying that the Calypso King had died.
Sparrow was asked how he was feeling, he replied in song. “Ole, ole, ole, ole, I feeling hot, hot, hot,” he sang. He said he was also hoping to raise funds to help pay for expenses incurred over the past few months, according to the report.
Mighty Sparrow described his illness as being at “death’s door” and returning.
“Coma means death,” Mighty Sparrow said. “I came back from the doors because somebody was opening the wrong door there, so I want to come back and go through the right door.”
Sparrow also sang a portion of his song ‘Sparrow Dead’, to show how long people have been writing his obituary. “I don’t know why they want to kill me,” he said. “When I used to behave bad they didn’t want to kill me, now they want to kill me. I won’t give them a chance to kill me,” he joked.
Sparrow said he is the happiest man alive. He is to return to New York after Carnival.