Jamaican singer had global hit in 1964 before largely disappearing from public life in the 1970s.
Blackwell said: “I would say she’s the person who took ska international because it was her first hit record.
“It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world. I went with her around the world because each of the territories wanted her to turn up and do TV shows and such, and it was just incredible how she handled it.
“She was such a sweet person, really a sweet person. Very funny, great sense of humour. She was really special.”
The song, which is considered the first commercially successful international ska track, featured in the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony in London and remains one of the best-selling reggae hits of all time.
Recorded under the name Millie, My Boy Lollipop reached No 2 in the UK and US, with Blackwell remembering: “It became a hit pretty much everywhere in the world … and it was just incredible how she handled it. She was such a sweet person. Very funny, great sense of humour. She was really special.” In a separate statement, Island Records heralded her as “a true original, a wonderful human being”.
Small was born in 1946 in Jamaica’s Clarendon parish, and began her recording career in her mid-teens, cutting singles for the island’s legendary Studio One label. Blackwell discovered her after her duet with Roy Panton, We’ll Meet, topped Jamaican charts and, with her parents’ permission, became her manager and moved her to the UK. “It felt like I was coming home, that this was where I was meant to be,” she remembered in 2016, having never returned to Jamaica.
