Marjo (singer)

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Marjo
Marjo.jpg
Background information
Born
Marjolène Morin

(1953-08-02) 2 August 1953 (age 72)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genresrock, pop
Occupation(s)singer, songwriter
Instrumentvocals
Years active1979–present

Marjolène Morin (born 2 August 1953), professionally known as Marjo, is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec. [1]

Contents

Background

Morin was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. [2] She worked as a model and editor for the fashion magazine Madame, and as manager of the Montreal jazz club L'Air du temps, [2] and was cast in two musicals by François Guy. [2]

She joined the band Corbeau in 1979, two years after the group was started by Pierre Harel. [2] 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 in 1985. [3]

Solo career

She released her debut album, Celle qui va, in 1986. [1] 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. [4] [5] The album ultimately sold more than 250 000 copies, was certified double platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, and won three Prix Félix. [6] One critic wrote at the time that her stage show generated so much electricity that she was the musical equivalent of James Bay. [7] The album was subsequently released in France under the title Amoureuse, and was promoted by a tour of Europe. [8]

In 1988, she appeared on Gerry Boulet's influential album Rendez-vous doux, as a duet vocalist on the song "Les Yeux du cœur". [9]

She followed up with Tant qu'il y aura des enfants in 1990. [10] 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". [10] She won four Prix Félix for the album, including Best Rock Album and Best Song for "Je sais, je sais". [11] The album was again certified double platinum for sales of over 200,000 copies. [12]

She returned in 1995 with the album Bohémienne. [12] The album was certified platinum by October 1995, [13] garnered awards from SOCAN for the singles "Bohémienne" and "Trop d'amour", [14] and was a shortlisted Juno Award nominee for Best Francophone Album at the Juno Awards of 1996. [15]

She released the albums Bootleg Blues in 1998, Sans retour in 2001 and Turquoise in 2005. [16] 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, Jonathan Painchaud, Yann Perreau, Éric Lapointe, Richard Séguin, Richard Desjardins, Mario Pelchat, Gilles Vigneault, Dan Bigras and Luc de Larochellière. [17] 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 concert on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City. [18]

In 2016, she took her first acting role, in Sophie Dupuis's film Family First (Chien de garde). [19]

Discography

Albums

References

  1. 1 2 "Marjo". The Canadian Encyclopedia , 5 November 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Marjo broke ground for female Quebecois songwriters". Sherbrooke Record , 8 October 2010.
  3. "The Marjo magic". The Globe and Mail , 13 February 1988.
  4. "Ignored by anglos Marjo rocks Quebec; She's the hottest French ticket in province." Montreal Gazette , 23 January 1988.
  5. MusiMax via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JriHQV_mMmg
  6. "Marjo, The Box, Rivard top Felixes with 3 each". Montreal Gazette , 26 October 1987.
  7. "'Sainte Marjo' hottest attraction on Quebec music scene". Ottawa Citizen , 19 February 1988.
  8. "Marjo sets sights on European rock market". Montreal Gazette , 4 April 1988.
  9. "Gerry Boulet: Quebec rocker rose with fledgling industry". The Globe and Mail , 19 July 1990.
  10. 1 2 "Marjo has her act and her life together". Montreal Gazette , 6 October 1990.
  11. "Marjo wins four Felix awards". Ottawa Citizen , 15 October 1991.
  12. 1 2 "Platinum diva Marjo resurfaces; Rockeuse ends hiatus with release of Bohemienne, concert tour". Montreal Gazette , 18 March 1995.
  13. "Gold, platinium records piling up". Vancouver Sun , 26 October 1995.
  14. "SOCAN honors Vigneault". Montreal Gazette , 20 November 1996.
  15. "Juno nominees reflect success of female singers: Shania Twain leads with seven nominations, followed by Alanis Morissette with six, Susan Aglukark with five and Celine Dion with four". The Globe and Mail , 1 February 1996.
  16. "La relève en musique est «plate», selon Marjo". Le Journal de Montréal , 15 May 2015.
  17. "Le retour de Marjo... en duo" [ dead link ]. La Presse , 20 November 2009.
  18. "Fête nationale: lancement des festivites vendredi, partout au Quebec". Canadian Press, 23 June 2017.
  19. "Marjo au grand écran". La Presse , 15 November 2016.