Every female calypsonian owes a debt of gratitude to Lady Trinidad, the first woman to sing in a Calypso Tent. Thelma Lewis, passed away quietly at age 85, in January 1999, unheralded and unnoticed. Yet in 1935, she created history by upstaging her male counterparts on her debut at the Crystal Palace Tent on Nelson Street. She gained both the audiences encores and the wrath of her peers. This mistreatment by male calypsonians perpetuated through the years and was foisted upon those who dared to follow in her footsteps like Lady Baldwin (Mavis Baldwin), Lady MacDonald (Doris MacDonald), and Lady Irie of the famous duo, Lord and Lady Irie. These ladies were the forerunners of the stalwarts of the seventies such as Calypso Rose (McArtha Lewis), Singing Francine (Francine Edwards), Singing Dianne (Dianne Thomas) and Calypso Princess. Together they posed a significant challenge to the male superstars of calypso. They toiled in the tents without the luxury of separate dressing rooms and having to "scrub the bench" many a night. Yet they persevered to triumph in this male dominated culture.

Singing Francine was a prolific recording artiste who worked with talented arrangers like Ed Watson, Art De Coteau, and Pelham Goddard. She thrilled fans with her melodious voice with clear ringing tones that brought her Calypso Queen titles and a prized place in the calypso tent of the seventies. Her hit single Runaway became a theme song for domestic violence against women as she implored them to "put some wheels on yuh heels." She excelled with tunes on the Pan and religious flavoured Soca Parang songs.

But it was Calypso Rose who has the distinction of being the first female to cop the Calypso Monarch Title in 1978, and the Roadmarch titles in 1977 and 1978. In fact she placed both first and second on the road in 1978 with Come leh we Jam and Her Majesty. Born in Bethel Tobago, she stormed into the Calypso Monarch Finals with Fire Fire in 1968, the first woman to do so. In anticipation of her victory in 1978, singing I thank thee and Her Majesty, the Calypso King title was changed to Calypso Monarch. She ultimately set the standard for other aspiring females and has been fittingly recognised by several institutions as the Top Female Calypsonian of the twentieth century.