Newly crowned Pic-o-De-Crop Calypso Monarch Adrian AC Clarke will leave Barbados within days to undergo spinal surgery, curtailing celebrations and early performance bookings as he begins his reign, Barbados TODAY can reveal exclusively.

His birthday next Monday will find him preparing to fly out to the US for the operation by that weekend, postponing his early performances to at least October, he said.

The four-time monarch scored 330 points to triumph over his nearest competitor – David Kid Site Piggott – by 66 points, to capture the national calypso crown at the National Botanical Gardens on Friday night.