Renée Claude (born Renée Bélanger; July 3, 1939 – May 12, 2020) was a Canadian actress and singer Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas and Benoît L'Herbier
"Renée Claude"
'' The Canadian Encyclopedia'', January 20, 2010. who was known as an interpretive singer, particularly of songs by

Stéphane Venne Stéphane Venne (born July 2, 1941 in Verdun, Quebec) is a French-Canadian songwriter and composer. He also worked as head of production for the Canadian arm of Barclay Records and as a radio station executive. He composed music for several film ...

Michel Conte Michel Conte, born Michel Seunes, (Villeneuve-sur-Lot 17 July 1932 – 5 January 2008) was a French born, naturalized Canadians, Canadian choreographer, lyricist and composer of film music and television music.Louise Laplante. ''Compositeurs canadi ...

, Georges Brassens and

Léo Ferré Léo Ferré (24 August 1916 – 14 July 1993) was a French-born Monégasque poet and composer, and a dynamic and controversial live performer, whose career in France dominated the years after the Second World War until his death. He released s ...

Early life

She was born Renée Bélanger in Montreal. She studied piano at the

École de musique Vincent-d'Indy The école de musique Vincent-d'Indy is a subsidized private music college situated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the Outremont district, that specializes in music education. Programs L'école Vincent-d'Indy offers programs that result in stu ...

, took singing lessons from Alphonse Ledoux, and won a music competition on CKVL radio program ''Découvertes de Billy Munro'' in 1955.

Musical career

In 1960 she made her first major television appearance on Clémence DesRochers's Télévision de Radio-Canada variety show ''Chez Clémence''. Around the same era she began performing in Quebec City's ''boîtes à chanson'', specializing in the songs of Ferré, Brassens and Jean-Pierre Ferland. She released her self-titled first album on Distribution Select in 1963, and followed up with three more albums on the label by 1966. In 1967 she made an appearance on '' The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson'', and performed at Expo 67 in Montreal. In the same year she moved to

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

and released her breakthrough album ''Shippagan''; the album's title track was her first major hit single in Quebec, and she won the award for best singer at the

Gala des artistes Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush *''Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman *GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups *''Gala'', a 1986 album by Th ...

in 1968. However, ''Shippagan'' was her sole album for Columbia, as she moved to

Barclay Barclay may refer to: People * Barclay (surname) * Clan Barclay Places * Barclay, Kansas * Barclay, Maryland, a town in Queen Anne's County * Barclay, Baltimore, Maryland, a neighborhood * Barclay, Nevada, a town in Lincoln County * Barclay, ...

for her 1969 album ''C'est notre fête aujourd'hui''. She released five further albums on Barclay between 1969 and 1973, and scored popular hits in this era with the songs "C'est notre fête aujourd'hui", "Le Tour de la terre", "La Rue de la Montagne", "Tu trouveras la paix", "Le Début d'un temps nouveau", "C'est toi, c'est moi, c'est lui, c'est nous autres", "Quand le temps tournera au beau", "T'oublier, t'oublier" and "Sais-tu que je t'aime depuis longtemps". She then moved to

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

, for whom she released two albums in 1975 and 1976, and then to Solset Records, releasing an album in 1979. In the 1980s, with pop tastes changing, Claude began creating shows and albums that paid tribute to specific artists who had inspired her, including DesRochers, Brassens and Ferré. She won the Grand Prix du Disque for French Song from the Académie Charles Cros in 1996 for her Ferré album ''On a marché sur l'amour''. In the 1990s she began taking acting roles, appearing in stage productions of ''Nelligan'', ''Tu faisais comme un appel'' and ''Marcel poursuivi par les chiens'', in the television series '' Avec un grand A'', '' Lance et compte'' and ''Triplex'', and in the films '' It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux (C't'à ton tour, Laura Cadieux)'' and '' North Station (Station Nord)''. She was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in 2009.

Alzheimer's diagnosis and tributes

In February 2019, it was announced that Claude had been diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. Following the announcement, singers Ginette Reno, Diane Dufresne, Céline Dion,

Isabelle Boulay Isabelle Boulay, (born 6 July 1972) is a French Canadian singer. Biography Born in Sainte-Félicité, Quebec, where her parents owned a restaurant, Boulay moved to the nearby city of Matane at the start of her adolescence, and studied litera ...

, Luce Dufault, Louise Forestier, Laurence Jalbert, Catherine Major, Ariane Moffatt, Marie Denise Pelletier and Marie-Élaine Thibert participated in 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 ...

recording of "Tu trouveras la paix" as a charitable fundraiser for Alzheimer's research. Some of the same artists, as well as Clémence DesRochers and

Kathleen Fortin Kathleen may refer to: People * Kathleen (given name) * Kathleen (singer), Canadian pop singer Places * Kathleen, Alberta, Canada * Kathleen, Georgia, United States * Kathleen, Florida, United States * Kathleen High School (Lakeland, Florida), ...

, performed at a fundraising benefit concert on November 15, 2019 at

Montreal Symphony House The Montreal Symphony House (french: Maison symphonique de Montréal) is a concert hall in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Symphony House is located at the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard, de Maisonneuve Boulevard West and Saint Urbain S ...

Death

Claude died from COVID-19 on May 12, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

Discography

* 1963: ''Renée Claude Volume 1'' * 1964: ''Renée Claude Volume 2'' * 1965: ''Renée Claude Volume 3 – Il y eut un jour'' * 1966: ''Renée Claude Volume 4'' * 1967: ''Shippagan'' * 1969: ''C'est notre fête aujourd'hui'' * 1969: ''Le tour de la terre'' * 1970: ''Le début d'un temps nouveau'' * 1971: ''Tu trouveras la paix'' * 1972: ''Je reprends mon souffle'' * 1973: ''Ce soir je fais l'amour avec toi'' * 1975: ''Je suis une femme'' * 1976: ''L'enamour, le désamour'' * 1979: ''Bonjour'' * 1981: ''Moi c'est Clémence que j'aime le mieux'' * 1983: ''Renée Claude chante Georges Brassens'' * 1986: ''Renée Claude'' * 1990: ''Nelligan'' * 1993: ''J'ai rendez-vous avec vous: Renée Claude chante Georges Brassens'' * 1994: ''On a marché sur l'amour: Renée Claude chante

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Claude, Renée 1939 births 20th-century Canadian actresses Canadian women pop singers Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian stage actresses Actresses from Montreal Singers from Montreal French-language singers of Canada French Quebecers People with Alzheimer's disease 2020 deaths Members of the Order of Canada London Records artists 20th-century Canadian women singers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada