Alison Hinds, who is known as “the Queen of Soca,” was born in London, England to Barbadian parents in 1970. She moved with her mother back to Barbados after her parents separated when she was 11 years old. She was a contestant in the Richard Stoute Talent Contest in 1987 and finished in third place.

After she finished high school, she joined the band “Square One” as lead vocalist and became a popular artist in the Caribbean and within the Caribbean Diaspora. She made nine albums with the band between 1988 and 2001. She won the 1992 Barbados Song Contest with “Hold You in a Song,” a duet with John King. She also won the Road March in 1996 and 1997 and the Party Monarch competition in 1997. Following the birth of her daughter in 2004, she left the band but returned to the soca environment with her appearance in a remix of “Turn Me On,” a hit crossover tune by Kevin Lyttle.

In 2005, she had her biggest his to date with “Roll It Gal,” a recording that gained huge popularity with the Caribbean Diaspora worldwide and with fans in North America and Europe. The song was re-released in the United Kingdom in 2007 with Hinds’ debut album entitled “Soca Queen.” She lives with her family in Barbados on a horse farm managed by her husband Edward Walcott and has her own band, “The Alison Hinds Show, which she formed in 2005. Her latest album was released in 2010 and features Shaggy, Richie Spice, and Jah Cure. She continues to tour around the world and has performed at Caribbean festivals, including Sumfest and Brooklyn’s West Indian American Carnival.

Photos – Alison Hinds