Colette Bonheur (September 20, 1927 – October 10, 1966) was a singer from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Biography

Colette Bonheur is observed in the radio show The Phantom of the keyboard (piano)

CKVL-FM CKVL-FM (FM 100,1 Radio LaSalle) is a community radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, broadcasting at 100.1 MHz. The station is owned and operated by La radio communautaire de Ville LaSalle, a non-profit organization. The station ...

(Montreal), led by Jacques Normand, Gilles Pellerin and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Billy Munro in the late 1940s. The singer joined by following the

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

troupe The Golden Pheasant by Jacques Normand in October 1950. From 1954 to 1957, she shared with Jacques Normand Gilles Pellerin and starred in the

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

door open on the

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. Meanwhile, she sang in cabarets Montreal's most popular contemporaries such as Cabaret Saint-Germain-des-Pres (Montreal), The Continental Café, rue Saint-Urbain in Montreal or Quebec Chez Gerard. In the fall of 1954 she participated with Jacques Normand, Gilles Pellerin, Normand Hudon, Pierre Theriault and other programming of three Beavers, a new tavern opened above the Café Saint-Jacques. Her rendition of "Violets fields" Yves Beauparlant won her the prize in radio Canadian singing contest in 1957. In 1961 she married the

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pro ...

Gerry Robinson with whom she will settle in the Bahamas. Colette Bonheur is the daughter of Quebec singer and actress Lise Bonheur (born Leontine Laurendeau), sister of singer and painter

Guylaine Guy Guylaine Guy (born Guylaine Chailler; April 6, 1929) is a Canadian singer and painter from Montreal, Quebec. Biography Guy debuted in Montreal cabarets. She sang at the Faisan Doré in 1950 and in 1952 was elected Miss Radio-TV by Radiomonde. She ...

, painter Lise Chailler, and singer and artist Monique Chailler. Colette is also niece to

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

's first oboeist Alexander Laurendeau. She died on October 15, 1966 in

Freeport, Bahamas Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substantial areas of sw ...

from a forced drug overdose by her husband.

Discography

* ''Colette Bonheur'', Collection QIM (2005, Expérience, EXP-119, Compilation). Colette Bonheur, QIM Collection (2005, Experience, EXP-119, Compilation). * ''Colette Bonheur Chante Pour Vous'' (1958, Epic, LF 2007). Colette Bonheur sings for you (1958, Epic, LF 2007). * ''12 Chansons Canadiennes'' (1957, Pathé, PAM 68.000). 12 Canadian songs (1957, Pathé, PAM 68,000).

References

* Québec Info Musique * Le Parolier (The Lyricist) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonheur, Colette 1927 births 1966 deaths French-language singers of Canada Singers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian women singers