Crystal Plamondon (born in 1963 [1] in Plamondon, Alberta, Canada) is a trilingual singer and performer of Cajun and country music.
Plamondon's birth town was founded by her great-grandfather. She began singing publicly at the age of ten but didn't record until 1990 when she made her own cassette. Plamondon lists her musical influences as Daniel Lanois, Zachary Richard, Dolly Parton, Sting, and Emmylou Harris. Her CDs include Carpe Diem in 1993, La Rousse Farouche in 1996, and Plus de Frontières in 2002. Plus de Frontières (English: No Borders) was nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award for "Outstanding Francophone Recording" in 2003. She speaks three languages: English, French, and Cree.
In 1992, she received the Molson Canadian ARIA (Alberta Recording Industry Association) Performer of the Year Award. In 1993, she was nominated for YWCA's Tribute to Women Award, for Arts & Culture. In 1994, Plamondon was given formal recognition of her talents by being made an honorary citizen of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. Her music videos, Rendez-vous en Louisiane and Cajun Girl/ La Cajine filmed in Plamondon, Alberta, receive regular play in the southern U.S. and in Canada.
Plamondon had a television special filmed in Benin, West Africa and in her Alberta home in November, 1998 called Passeport Musique for Radio Canada. She has also performed live on Parliament Hill in 1997 for the Canada Day celebration; and on October 18, 2000, Crystal sang the Famous Five Anthem for the inauguration of the "Women are Persons!" monument on Parliament Hill to commemorate the day that women were declared "persons" in 1929. [2]
Four of Plamondon's songs have been featured in the CBC TV show Heartland . [3]
After living in southern Alberta and Louisiana, Plamondon is now living in the Plamondon area, [4] and performs at the Calgary Stampede, local venues and at tour stops in Canada.
Lara Sophie Katy Crokaert, known professionally as Lara Fabian, is a Belgian and Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 20 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling Belgian artists of all time.
Diane Dufresne, is a French Canadian singer and painter, and is known for singing a large repertoire of popular Quebec songs.
Karyn Layvonne White is an American singer who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is known for several hit singles including "Superwoman" (1988), "Secret Rendezvous" (1989), "The Way You Love Me" (1988), and the U.S. Hot 100 No. 1 single "Romantic" (1991).
Franco-Albertans are francophone residents of the Canadian province of Alberta. Franco-Albertans is a term primarily used to denote the province's francophone residents. In the 2016 Canadian Census, there were 86,705 Albertans that stated their mother tongue was French.
Plamondon is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within Lac La Biche County. It is located on Highway 858, approximately 3.0 km (1.9 mi) north of Highway 55, and has an elevation of 555 m (1,821 ft).
Ginette Reno is a Canadian author, composer, singer, and actress. She has received nominations for the Genie and Gemini Awards and is a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. She is a gold and platinum selling Canadian musician.
Patricia Gallant is a Canadian pop singer and musical theatre actress. Of Acadian ancestry, she has recorded and performed in both English and French.
Dion chante Plamondon is the ninth French-language studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion. It was released on 4 November 1991 by Sony Music and features songs with words written by French-Canadian lyricist, Luc Plamondon. In Europe, the album was renamed Des mots qui sonnent. It was promoted in Quebec by four promotional singles: "Des mots qui sonnent", "L'amour existe encore", "Je danse dans ma tête" and "Quelqu'un que j'aime, quelqu'un qui m'aime". In France, three commercial singles were released: "Je danse dans ma tête", "Un garçon pas comme les autres (Ziggy)" and "L'amour existe encore". Dion chante Plamondon won the Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year and Félix Award for Best Selling Album of the Year. It topped the chart in Quebec and reached number four in France.
Rick Allison is a Belgian-born Canadian singer, author and record producer.
Ralph Zachary Richard is an American singer-songwriter and poet. His music is a combination of Cajun and Zydeco musical styles.
Nanette Joan Workman is a singer-songwriter, actress and author, who has been based in Ormstown, Quebec, Canada, during much of her career. She holds dual citizenship of both the United States and Canada. She was raised by musician parents in Jackson, Mississippi, where she began her first performances. Although raised as an English speaker, she mainly performs in French. She has recorded with well-known musicians in the U.S., Canada, UK and France and has been recognized in Mississippi by being elected to that state's Musicians Hall of Fame and having a Francophone house named after her at the state university.
Isabelle Boulay, is a Canadian singer.
Diane Tell is a Canadian musician who was born in Quebec City, Quebec.
Ann Savoy is a musician, author, and record producer.
Andrée Watters-Michaud is a Canadian musician and a two-time Félix Award winner from Quebec.
Doris Leon Menard was an American songwriter, performer, and recording artist in contemporary Cajun music. He was called the "Cajun Hank Williams".
The Carpe Diem String Quartet was founded in 2005 and is a classical string quartet based in Columbus, Ohio. The quartet's repertoire ranges from classical to contemporary chamber music. They regularly perform the works of contemporaries like Reza Vali, Richard Danielpour, Jonathan Leshnoff as well as other renowned classical performers including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn. Carpe Diem performs and tours regularly, in the United States, Canada, Japan, China, and Europe. The quartet is a strong proponent for the overlooked Russian composer Sergei Taneyev, and recorded his nine (9) string quartets, as well as his viola quintet, all for the Naxos label. The quartet regularly performs and collaborates with non-classical artists, including Willy Porter and Jayme Stone. A few of the outstanding artists with whom the quartet has played include Yo-Yo Ma, David Krakuaer, Raul Juarena, and Richard Stoltzman.
"Egoísta" is a song by Spanish singer-songwriter and actress Belinda, released as the lead single from album Carpe Diem on February 8, 2010 to radio stations, and digitally on February 23, 2010. The song features Cuban rapper Pitbull. The song was originally recorded in Spanish, but later was re-released in English as well. Also a music video was filmed for this version.
Lisa LeBlanc, is a Canadian singer-songwriter and banjoist, known for her enthusiastic "trash folk" performances. She has been noted for her "distinct" blend of folk, rock, and disco with both English and French language lyrics combined with chiac and her Acadian accent. Her accolades include two Félix Awards and an East Coast Music Award. She has also been nominated for three Juno Awards, the SOCAN Songwriting Prize, and shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize twice.
Brenda Longfellow is a Canadian filmmaker known for her biographies of female historic figures. Since 2007, Longfellow's focus in her films has been on environmental issues.