Marjolène Morin (born 2 August 1953), professionally known as Marjo, is a Canadian singer-songwriter from

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 ...

."Marjo"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

'', 5 November 2007.

Background

Morin was born and raised in

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."Marjo broke ground for female Quebecois songwriters". ''

Sherbrooke Record ''The Record'' is the only daily (Monday–Friday) English language newspaper based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. It serves the Eastern Townships region of that province. It is one of the French-speaking province's last two English-language dail ...

'', 8 October 2010. She worked as a model and editor for the fashion magazine ''Madame'', and as manager of the Montreal

jazz club A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is licens ...

L'Air du temps, and was cast in two musicals by François Guy. She joined the band Corbeau in 1979, two years after the group was started by Pierre Harel. After Corbeau disbanded, she cowrote and recorded "Touch Me", the theme song for the film '' A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel)'', which earned a Genie Award for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

in 1985."The Marjo magic". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', 13 February 1988.

Solo career

She released her debut album, ''Celle qui va'', in 1986. One of her first concerts to promote the album on its initial release was as an opening act for Eartha Kitt, but a press conference to promote the concert ended in controversy when Kitt pulled Morin's hair and spilled wine in her lap."Ignored by anglos Marjo rocks Quebec; She's the hottest French ticket in province." ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', 23 January 1988. MusiMax via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JriHQV_mMmg The album ultimately sold more than 250 000 copies, was certified double platinum by the

Canadian Recording Industry Association Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It ...

, and won three

Prix Félix Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

. One critic wrote at the time that her stage show generated so much electricity that she was the musical equivalent of

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost pa ...

. The album was subsequently released in France under the title ''Amoureuse'', and was promoted by a tour of Europe. In 1988, she appeared on

Gerry Boulet Joseph Gaétan Robert Gérald (Gerry) Boulet (March 1, 1946 – July 18, 1990) was a French Canadian rock singer.

's influential album ''Rendez-vous doux'', as a duet vocalist on the song "Les Yeux du cœur". She followed up with ''Tant qu'il y aura des enfants'' in 1990."Marjo has her act and her life together". ''

'', 6 October 1990. The album was again a chart success in Quebec; in addition to the hit singles "À bout de ciel" and "Je sais, je sais", the album included the English language song "Crazy Notions". She won four Prix Félix for the album, including Best Rock Album and Best Song for "Je sais, je sais". The album was again certified double platinum for sales of over 200,000 copies."Platinum diva Marjo resurfaces; Rockeuse ends hiatus with release of Bohemienne, concert tour". ''

'', 18 March 1995. She returned in 1995 with the album ''Bohémienne''. The album was certified platinum by October 1995, garnered awards from

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 135,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collects ...

for the singles "Bohémienne" and "Trop d'amour", and was a shortlisted Juno Award nominee for Best Francophone Album at the Juno Awards of 1996. She released the albums ''Bootleg Blues'' in 1988, ''Sans retour'' in 2001 and ''Turquoise'' in 2005. In 2009 and 2010, she released the albums ''Marjo et ses hommes, Vol. 1'' and ''Marjo et ses hommes, Vol. 2'', which featured songs from throughout her career newly rerecorded as duets with a variety of male vocalists including

Martin Deschamps Martin Deschamps (born June 23, 1970) is a Canadian rock singer from Quebec. He records and performs both as a solo artist and as the lead vocalist for the reunited Offenbach. Young age Deschamps was born with congenital deformities of all fo ...

, Jonathan Painchaud, Yann Perreau, Éric Lapointe,

Richard Séguin Richard Séguin (born March 27, 1952 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Québec Canada) is a Québécois songwriter, musician and singer. His music career began in the 1970s with the duo Les Séguin, with his twin sister Marie-Claire. The duo achieved c ...

, Richard Desjardins,

Mario Pelchat Mario Pelchat (born 1 February 1964) is a Canadian Francophone singer from Quebec. He received the Felix Award in 1990 and 1992. Biography Pelchat was born in Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec and has performed since 1973. His first 45 RPM single was ...

Gilles Vigneault Gilles Vigneault (; born 27 October 1928) is a Canadian poet, publisher, singer-songwriter, and Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist. Two of his songs are considered by many to be Quebec's unofficial anthems: " Mon pays" and " Gens du pays", ...

Dan Bigras Dan Bigras (born 23 December 1957) is a francophone rock singer and actor from Canada. He has released a number of albums of rock music, beginning with ''Ange Animal'' in 1990. He is the spokesman of ''Refuge des Jeunes de Montréal'' (meaning ...

and

Luc de Larochellière Luc or LUC may refer to: Places * Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune * Luc, Lozère, France, a commune * Le Luc, France, a commune * Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement People and fictional characters * Luc (given name) * Luc (surname) ...

. The second volume also included the original recording of "Les Yeux du cœur", which had not previously been available on one of Marjo's albums. She has not released a new album of material since ''Vol. 2'', but has continued to undertake occasional live performances, most recently at a 2017

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (french: Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste, la Saint-Jean, Fête nationale du Québec), also known in English as ''St John the Baptist Day'', is a holiday celebrated on June 24 in the Canadian province of Quebec and by Fren ...

concert on the

Plains of Abraham The Plains of Abraham (french: Plaines d'Abraham) is a historic area within the Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, anada. It was established on 17 March 1908. The land is the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took plac ...

in Quebec City. In 2016, she took her first acting role, in

Sophie Dupuis Sophie Dupuis is a Quebec film director and screenwriter, from Val-d'Or who studied at Concordia University and the Université du Québec à Montréal whose feature film debut '' Family First (Chien de garde)'' premiered in 2018 and was selected ...

's film '' Family First (Chien de garde)''."Marjo au grand écran"
'' La Presse'', 15 November 2016.

Discography

Albums

* 1986: ''Celle qui va'' * 1990: ''Tant qu'il y aura des enfants'' * 1995: ''Bohémienne'' * 1998: ''Bootleg Blues'' * 2001: ''Sans retour'' * 2005: ''Turquoise'' * 2009: ''Marjo et ses hommes, Vol. 1'' * 2010: ''Marjo et ses hommes, Vol. 2''

References

{{Authority control 1953 births Living people Actresses from Montreal Canadian women rock singers Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from Montreal French-language singers of Canada Best Original Song Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian film actresses Canadian women pop singers 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers