Renée Martel

Renée Martel 

As a child she participated in her parents' tours and at six she gave her first show. She also appeared on radio and TV in Sherbrooke (especially on her father, Marcel Martel's, CHLT program) and sang at dances. Her success took her to Montreal in 1967. Proclaimed 'Discovery of the Year' at the 1968 Gala des artistes, she increased her TV appearances and took part in a Musicorama tour in Quebec. The sales of her three singles, 'Liverpool,' 'Je vais à Londres,' and 'Viens changer ma vie,' earned her three gold records in 1969; she received another in 1972 for 'J'ai un amour qui ne veut pas mourir.' During the period 1968-73 she studied voice with Roger Larivière. The LP Renée Martel (RCA Victor Gala CGPS-316), a reissue of her best-known singles, appeared in 1969. Among her LPs for Spectrum are Mon roman d'amour (SP-108), Un amour qui ne veut pas mourir (SPX-200), the reissue Mes Plus Grands Succès (SPS-1600), and Réflexions (SPS-1601), devoted to the songs of Marcel Lefebvre and Jean-Guy Chapados. She also made several LPs for Trans-World. Abandoning her early concentration on country repertoire, she began in 1967 to write the lyrics for most of her songs, which are primarily sentimental in nature, such as 'Donne-moi un jour.' In addition to many tours in Quebec, she has appeared in Montreal at the Théâtre des Variétés, at the Maisonneuve Theatre of the PDA, and at the Boîte à chansons in the Méridien Hotel, and in Quebec City at the Grand Théâtre. In 1978, with René Simard, she made the LP Souvenirs de vacances (Disques No. 1 NO-1801), and in 1980, Renée Martel chante Connie Francis et Brenda Lee (Disques No. 2 NTV-1810). Songs such as 'Le Bateau de bonheur,' 'Prends ma main,' 'Finalement,' 'À demain my darling,' and 'Cowgirl dorée' (the last written for her by Robert Charlebois in 1976) are among her greatest successes. With Patrick Norman, she became co-host 1978-79 of 'Patrick et Renée' on CFTM-TV, Montreal. In 1981 she participated in the tour 'La Grande rétro' with René Simard, Les Classels, and Johnny Farago which ended at the Montreal Forum. There followed the LPs Un coin du ciel (1981, Disques No. 1 NTV-1819), C'est mon histoire (1983, Poly 2424-246/Star STR-CD-403), and Cadeau (1984, Star STL-1002/Star STR-CD-402). The last two brought her the Felix award for best country LP in 1983 and 1985. She abandoned her career in 1986. She has published an autobiographical volume entitled Renaissance (Montreal 1984).