The entertainment industry woke up to the devastating news on March 24 that another one of its songbirds, Moricia Cagan, had transitioned.

Cagan, 48, died peacefully at the San Fernando General Hospital at 8.13 am, her partner Nigel O’Connor told the Newsday.

On March 24, parang singer Susan Maico, 62, who was also battling sepsis which resulted in organ failure, died at the Port of Spain General Hospital.

“It is with deepest regret I have to share this information under these circumstances. She was a woman of the arts, both artistically and musically inclined,” O’Connor said.

[caption id="attachment_1145981" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Artist Moricia Cagan stands near her piece Mesmer-eyes during the launch of the Rotunda Gallery exhibition Free Form: A Representation of Life, Red House, Abercromby Street, Port of Spain, on June 13, 2024. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]

Tributes have been pouring in for this Pleasantville, San Fernando singer, as well as condolences to O’Connor and her family.

Longstanding friend Nigel Campbell said he was shocked by the news of her passing. He said Cagan worked with a company he is part of, Production One Limited, as a professional singer.

He recalled some of her performances at One Night Stand with the Blue Culture band, productions at the Little Carib Theatre, as a featured artiste and entertainer in the Songbirds Live series.

In 2015, she was a surprise singer with Arturo Tappin and others in Jazz on the Greens and returned in 2016 as one of its featured artiste.

“I engaged with Moricia professionally over the years. She was one of those first-call singers, she sang with bands and could sing a range of songs – love songs, pop songs, jazz – she had a range.

“She was part of Divine Echoes, a band the late prime minister Patrick Manning had established and stayed on through its five-year duration.

“Before that she was one of the singers who was able to go to Asia where she learned Chinese pop songs which she performed as part of its dinner culture, at restaurants and bars where Trinidad and Tobago nationals were among the population. She performed well.

“She was one of those bright lights that has gone. She could have been a big star. There is as no denying she was well-known. To me, she was a supreme professional and very good at her craft.”

Although she came from a family of singers, Cagan’s dream was to be an athlete. She was focused on track and field and had her sights set on acquiring a scholarship to realise this dream.

As a career option, she envisioned herself as a system analyst.

[caption id="attachment_1145982" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Moricia Cagan performs at the Keino Swamber presents Golden concert, Naparima Bowl, San Fernando, on July 30, 2022. - Photo by Jeff K Mayers[/caption]

An injury derailed her passion to become an athlete and she turned to music, both as therapy and as a sustainable means of income.

Her talents also included painting and in 2024 she exhibited her piece titled Mesmer-eyes, in the Rotunda Ga