A proud Trinidad & Tobago awaits Guinness Record ruling on young steel pannist’s musical marathon

‘[There] were people who knew [there] would be a million moments [when] a discarded oil drum could make a tiny broken place feel whole’

Originally published on Global Voices

Twenty-six-year-old Trinidadian musician Joshua Regrello has registered his attempt at the Guinness World Record for the longest steelpan-playing marathon. The steelpan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. His performance — which he undertook from 6:00 a.m. AST (UTC-4) on December 27, 2024, and concluded at 1:00 p.m. the following day — lasted 31 hours, an hour longer than his initial goal. The marathon musical session took place at the WACK radio station in south Trinidad.

Before the event, Regrello posted a Q&A segment on his Facebook page, in which he encouraged supporters to show up either in person (the later, the better, he suggested, to help him keep up his energy during the wee hours) or virtually.

In response to people's questions about how he planned to play the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago for that length of time, Regrello quipped, “Prayers and pampers.” He then clarified, “This is not a non-stop performance […] every hour performing, you are given a five-minute break, and you can accumulate that over time, so every four hours, you can take a 20-minute break.”

As for the songs he would play, Regrello revealed that “by Guinness standards, a song has to be two minutes or more.” In addition, a song cannot be repeated within a four-hour period, so his set list had to be extensive — between 185 and 200 songs. The event also featured a range of guest artists, likely as much to help entertain the crowd as to encourage Regrello to keep going when stretched to his limit.

For as long as he could remember, Regrello's mother would give his brother the most recent Guinness Book of World Records for Christmas, and he and his sibling loved to go through them together, trying to figure out which records they might be able to break. Though Regrello's achievement has not yet been updated on the Guinness World Records website, many felt it was a testament not only to his grit, determination, and love of the instrument but also to Trinidad and Tobago's rich cultural heritage as the birthplace of the steelpan.

This is not the only time that Regrello's career has been marked by a “first” — he was also the first pannist to perform at the Great Wall of China. Through his enthusiastic efforts as an ambassador of sorts for the instrument, he has tried to inspire audiences both at home and abroad. As congratulations began to pour in, some called his performance “epic.”

It had never been done before.
When pannist Joshua Regrello struck the final note of Olatunji’s “Inventor” on Saturday afternoon, cheers erupted from a crowd of excited supporters.
Regrello achieved his goal of playing the steelpan for a record-breaking 30 hours, before playing… pic.twitter.com/R1jAYBH2nm

— T&T Guardian (@GuardianTT) December 29, 2024

A Trinidad and Tobago Guardian editorial suggested that “Regrello’s marathon achievement was yet another individual effort by a citizen to place our greatest creation on the centre stage of world culture,” and that it “expanded the presence of the national instrument on the world stage.”

The commentary continued, “Regrello’s historic sustained and quality playing, also told of the nature of the parenting he received from the former mayor of San Fernando, Junia Regrello and his mother Kamla, who must have surely given him the width, support and encouragement to develop his panmanship to the point of this achievement.” Junia Regrello, a staunch pannist himself, is a founding member and former captain of the steel orchestra Skiffle Bunch; he was also given a national award – the Chaconia Medal Gold – for his contributions as a member of the team that invented the G-pan.

The Newsday, meanwhile, called young Regrello's feat “a ray of hope […] in a time when this country is grappling with a staggering crime rate.”

The management and staff at SAPA wish to congratulate Joshua “De Pan Man” Regrello, southern son of the soil, on this momentous achievement!@JoshuaRegrello2 , you have made our nation beam with pride! Well done! pic.twitter.com/ltCmI7w3mX

— SAPA (Southern Academy for the Performing Arts) (@sapattinfo) December 30, 2024

Prime Minister Keith Rowley also extended his congratulations: “Your remarkable effort not only highlights your personal commitment to excellence but also shines a spotlight on the rich cultural heritage of Trinidad and Tobago. The steelpan is a symbol of our creativity, resilience, and the enduring spirit of our people, and through your achievement, you have elevated our beloved art form to new heights on the global stage.”

On Facebook, cultural activist Tillah Willah shared a deeper perspective:

Mediocrity as a trauma response. Whataboutism as a distraction to beauty. This is why the steelpan was born in the first place. Because there were people who knew and dreamed that there would be a million moments in the future when a discarded oil drum could make a tiny broken place feel whole again. This thirty something hours of meditation is a terror for those whose sense of their own role in making this a better place has been drowned out by the noisy futility of political affiliations. They only know how to fling themselves from one crisis headline to the next. Those comments are not jealousy or rage, they are all screaming ‘you make me afraid of my own potential’. A gentle reminder, dear Trinbagonian, that the artist is not meant to make you feel safe. Dear Joshua Regrello thank you for taking us to the unsafe place, thank you for daring us to spend some time focusing on one of the keys to open the chains we have locked tight around our minds.

On January 2, a grateful Regrello admitted on social media that he had “no clue this would turn into such a massive thing.” The hosts of the event, he explained, would intermittently show him the level of online support, “but I didn’t realise it was ALL dis.” Humbled by the outpouring of love, Regrello credited his faith and also thanked “all the witnesses and timekeepers who sat through the entire attempt to ensure everything was by the book.”

Guinness World Records has not yet sent Regrello and his team official confirmation of the acceptance of his record, but whatever the outcome, one Bluesky post summed up the feelings of his compatriots:

Joshua Regrello your dedication and passion are truly inspiring wishing you all the success you've already made history in our hearts

— 1caribbean (@1caribbean.bsky.social) 28 December 2024 at 09:53

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco