Real name: John Alwyn Richards

Calypsonian J. Alwyn "Lad" Richards, sensational saxophonist, orchestra leader, composer, arranger, was born 1915 in St.Thomas, Virgin Islands. While still a schoolboy, Lad was invited to join the St.Thomas Community Band and, shortly afterwards he organized his own orchestra with his fellow students. At first they played at school and community dances but quickly word spread throughout the Islands about the proficiency of this unusual young Calypso group, and commercial engagements soon followed; with bookings at Virgin Island Centre Theatre, The Caribbean Hotel, Bluebeards's Castle, The Virgin Isles Hotel and the Tropicana and Plantation clubs in St.Croix.
Firmly established as the outstanding J. Alwyn Richards & His Band on the Islands, Lad and his boys now looked for new worlds to conquer as Alwyn Richards and his St. Thomas Calypso Orchestra playing the Malayan Lounge in Miami, The Dunes in Las Vegas, The Blue Angel in Chicago and sidetrips to Canada and Appearances on the Dave Garroway and Steve Allen TV shows.
Lad Richards' two featured vocalists were Irvin Brown and Pershing De Graff. John Alwyn “Lad” Richards died on St. Thomas on Monday, April 24, 2017. He was 102 years old.