Lorraine P. Segato (born June 17, 1956 in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

) is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

group

The Parachute Club The Parachute Club was a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections ex ...

, with which she continues to perform.

History

Segato initially became known in the late 1970s as the vocalist in the Toronto rock band

Mama Quilla II Mama Quilla II was a Canadian rock band that first performed together in 1977 in Toronto and dissolved in 1982. Although the band recorded only a single EP as Mama Quilla II, after 1982 a revised lineup evolved into the influential pop band Parac ...

."Lorraine Segato: Emerging from the Shadows"
''

Music Express A Music Express is an amusement ride based on the original Caterpillar rides of Germany. Several near-identical ride designs are also produced by other companies: Musik Express by Italian company Bertazzon and US Majestic Rides, Himalaya ...

'', February 7, 2014. This band formed the core membership of The Parachute Club. The Parachute Club was particularly active in the 1980s, initially breaking up in 1989. Segato co-wrote nearly every song the band released, including all their singles. A reconstituted version of the band, including Segato, commenced performing in 2005 and continued to perform somewhat sporadically through 2014. After the initial breakup of Parachute Club, Segato released a solo album, ''Phoenix'', in 1990. In 1990 she collaborated on the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause", a plea for greater inclusion of hip hop music in the Canadian music scene, with

Dance Appeal Dance Appeal was a Canadian supergroup of dance, rhythm and blues, reggae and hip hop artists, who released the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause" in 1990. The song, a plea for greater inclusion of these predominantly black music genres in t ...

, a

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

of Toronto-area musicians that included

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Maestro Fresh Wes Wesley "Wes" Williams (born March 31, 1968) is a Canadians, Canadian rapper, record producer, actor, and author. He is known professionally by his stage names Maestro Fresh Wes (formerly Maestro Fresh-Wes) or Maestro as a musician, and is cred ...

, Dream Warriors, B-Kool,

Michie Mee Michelle McCullock (born November 1, 1970), better known by her stage name Michie Mee, is a Canadian rapper and actress. Canada's first notable female MC, she is considered a national hip-hop pioneer. Early life and career McCullock was born in ...

Lillian Allen Lillian Allen (born 5 April 1951) is a Canadian dub poet, reggae musician, writer and Juno Award winner. Biography Born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, she left that country in 1969, first moving to New York City, where she studied English at the C ...

Eria Fachin Eria Fachin (April 20, 1960 – May 9, 1996) was a Canadian dance pop singer, best known for her 1988 single "Savin' Myself".

, HDV, Dionne, Thando Hyman, Carla Marshall,

Messenjah Messenjah is a Canadian-based reggae group that flourished to become one of the most successful and popular reggae groups in the history of Canadian music. History Messenjah was formed in 1980 in Kitchener, Ontario and released their first album ...

, Jillian Mendez, Lorraine Scott, Self Defense,

Leroy Sibbles Leroy Sibbles (born Leroy Sibblies, 29 January 1949) is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to his work with The Heptones, Sibbles was a session bassist and arra ...

, Zama and Thyron Lee White. Her second solo album, ''Luminous City'', followed in 1998. She has also worked in film production, writing and directing a documentary on

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

's late 1970s/early 1980s

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east-w ...

scene, ''Queen Street West, The Rebel Zone'', and appearing in the documentary film ''

The Pinco Triangle ''The Pinco Triangle'' is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Patrick Crowe and Tristan R. Whiston and released in 1999.Gordon Bowness"Steelworkers, miners & faggots. Oh my" ''Daily Xtra'', May 19, 1999. A profile of LGBT life in Sudbury, On ...

'',"Steelworkers, miners & faggots. Oh my"
''

Daily Xtra ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former pr ...

'', May 19, 1999. and as a lecturer and social justice activist. Segato also appeared on the science fiction show ''

Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul and Michael Donovan. It originally aired on April 18, 1997, on Cana ...

'', singing a song as the "Time Prophet" on the episode "Brigadoom". She performed " Rise Up" at the

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

on August 27, 2011, supported by the choir of the

Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto The Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto is a congregation of the worldwide Metropolitan Community Church movement located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is a welcoming congregation openly affirming lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual and ...

."An Anthem to Remember".

CBC News Network CBC News Network (formerly CBC Newsworld) is a Canadian English-language specialty news channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. As Canada's first all-news channel, it is th ...

, August 27, 2011. In 2014, the surviving band members released a contemporary dance remix of the song in conjunction with Toronto's hosting of the 2014 edition of

WorldPride WorldPride, licensed by InterPride and organized by one of its member organizations, is an event that promotes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ pride) issues on an international level through parades, festivals and other cult ...

."The Parachute Club releases remix version of ‘Rise Up’"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', June 23, 2014. Her third solo album, ''Invincible Decency'', was released in 2015. She is also preparing ''Get Off My Dress'', a loosely autobiographical one-woman theatrical play. Segati was one of the people named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

on December 29, 2022, citing "her contributions to the Canadian music scene and culture as a pioneer in 2SLGBTQI+ Canadian history.""Order of Canada appointees – December 2022"
GG.ca, December 29, 2022.

Personal life

An out lesbian, Segato married Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, the daughter of journalist Michele Landsberg and politician and diplomat

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of those years as leade ...

and the sister of journalist

Avi Lewis Avram David "Avi" Lewis (born May 1967) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, former host of the Al Jazeera English show ''Fault Lines'' and former host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) current-affairs programs ''CounterSpin'' and ' ...

, in 2009. They have since separated.

Discography

All songs co-written by Lorraine Segato

Singles (Parachute Club)

Albums

With Mama Quilla II

*1982 – ''KKK//Mama Quilla/Angry Young Woman'' Tupperwaros; EP.

With The Parachute Club

*1983 – ''The Parachute Club'' Current/

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

*1984 – ''At the Feet of the Moon'' Current/RCA *1985 – ''Moving Thru the Moonlight'' Current/RCA; remixes *1986 – ''Small Victories'' (1986) Current/RCA *1992 – ''Wild Zone: The Essential Parachute Club'' BMG; reissued 2006 by

EMI International EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Particulars via www.amazon.com; accessed 09-02-07.

Solo

*1990 – ''Phoenix''

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

*1998 – ''Luminous City''

True North True north (also called geodetic north or geographic north) is the direction along Earth's surface towards the geographic North Pole or True North Pole. Geodetic north differs from ''magnetic'' north (the direction a compass points toward the ...

*2015 – ''Invincible Decency''

References

External links

Lorraine Segato's Official websiteLorraine Segato Website
not updated since 2004
Parachute Club Website/Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segato, Lorraine 1956 births 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian new wave musicians Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Feminist musicians Women new wave singers Canadian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Canadian LGBT singers Canadian LGBT songwriters Canadian lesbian musicians Canadian lesbian writers Living people Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Musicians from Toronto Writers from Toronto Canadian documentary film directors Canadian women film directors 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women pop singers The Parachute Club members 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Canadian women documentary filmmakers Members of the Order of Canada Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters Lesbian dramatists and playwrights