Francis Martin Lavergne (born August 28, 1968 in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec) is a Canadian musician and author."Kaya, dit l’Élu"
''Quartier Libre'', February 9, 2011. He has recorded and performed under the stage names Francis Martin and, as of 2011, Kaya;"Francis Martin, devenu Kaya, enseigne le bonheur par les rêves"
'' La Presse'', March 31, 2011. under the latter name and as James K. Field, he has also published several works of spiritual literature.

History

After an early role in a touring production of '' Starmania'',"L'ex-chanteur Francis Martin troque le micro pour la plume et les rêves"
. ''L'Écho du Nord'', December 13, 2008. he began recording in 1984, but his first two albums met with little success. Between 1985 and 1987 he studied classical music at the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy in

Outremont Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by franc ...

, while continuing with studio work and beginning to write songs himself.

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

signed him in 1988, the same year that he signed a writing contract with

ATV Music Publishing ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television * Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * ...

. Martin then recorded his third album in French, entitled ''Drôle de nuit'', in New York, and scored his first radio hit with "Elle ne C plus". He garnered a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1991 The Juno Awards of 1991, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 3 March 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia at a ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Paul Shaffer was the host for the ceremoni ...

, and a

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian p ...

nomination for Pop-Rock Album of the Year in 1990. He went on to record his fourth album ''Quand on se donne'', which was released on

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

in 1992, with producer

Aldo Nova Aldo Nova (born Aldo Caporuscio on November 13, 1956) is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, and producer. He initially gained fame and popularity with the release of his 1982 debut album ''Aldo Nova'' which peaked to ''Billboards n ...

. Several songs from this album, including "Rock It", "Tous les jours je pense à toi" and the album's title track "Quand on se donne", were hits in French-speaking Canada and the album was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

on March 11, 1993. He was nominated for two Juno Awards in 1993: Best Selling Francophone Album and

Male Vocalist of the Year Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to a ...

, and "Tous les jours je pense à toi" was nominated for Pop Song of the Year at the 1993 Félix Awards. He followed up with a self-titled album in 1994, which was not as successful on the charts. Following that album, Martin left the music business and began writing spiritual literature under the pen names James K. Field and Kaya,"Le chanteur Francis Martin devient Kaya l'écrivain"
. '' Le Réveil'', December 18, 2008. later launching his own publishing company. He returned to recording in 2011, releasing an album of spiritual music, ''Born Under the Star of Change'', under the Kaya name.

Discography

*''Drôle de nuit'' (1989) *''Quand on se donne'' (1992) *''Francis Martin'' (1994) *''Born Under the Star of Change'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

*1990:

for Pop-Rock Album of the Year, ''Drôle de nuit'' (nominee) *1991: Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year (nominee) *1993: Juno Award for Best Selling Francophone Album (nominee), Juno Award for Male Vocalist of the Year (nominee) *1993: Felix Award for Pop Song of the Year, "Tous les jours je pense à toi" (nominee)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Francis 1968 births Canadian male singers Living people French-language singers of Canada Canadian pop singers Canadian rock singers Canadian spiritual writers Singers from Montreal Writers from Montreal