Michelle Sweeney

Last updated
Michelle Sweeney
Michelle Sweeney At The West Island Blues Festival -- 2.jpg
Background information
Born Cleveland, Ohio, United States
GenresSoul, jazz, blues, gospel
Occupation(s)Singer

Michelle Sweeney is an American-Canadian actress and soul singer. [1] Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she moved to Montreal, Quebec in the 1980s to perform with the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, and has remained based in Montreal since. [2]

In addition to performing jazz, soul and blues music, she appeared alongside Ranee Lee and Anthony Sherwood in a 1986 production of Ain't Misbehavin' . [3] She formed her own group, Michelle Sweeney's Good News Singers, in 1987, and released her first recorded single, "Our Love", that year. [4] In 1988, she appeared on Quebec television alongside Céline Dion and Johanne Blouin, performing a medley of "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" from the musical Hair with "Quand on arrive en ville" from the musical Starmania , which saw Sweeney widely labelled as the star performer of the show. [2]

In 1989 she starred in a production of the jazz review Eubie! , [5] and the following year she appeared as a tour guide in the docufiction film The Company of Strangers . [6] She has also had selected other film and television roles throughout her career, most notably in a regular role as school principal Mrs. Morton in the Canadian teen comedy series Student Bodies from 1997 to 2000. [7]

In 1998 she appeared in a production of the HIV/AIDS-themed musical Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens . [8]

In 2000, Sweeney won the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for her career achievements. [9]

In 2020 Sweeney premiered her own original one-woman show Her Songs, My Story, in which she blends performances of the music of Aretha Franklin with personal reminiscences of her own life, including the revelation that she suffered for many years as a victim of domestic abuse in her prior marriage. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celine Dion</span> Canadian singer (born 1968)

Céline Marie Claudette Dion is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Queen of Power Ballads", she is noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals. Her music has incorporated genres such as pop, rock, R&B, gospel, and classical music. Her recordings have been mainly in English and French, although she has also sung in Spanish, Italian, German, Latin, Japanese, and Chinese.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Angélil</span> Canadian musical producer, talent manager, and singer (1942–2016)

René Angélil was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager and singer. He was the husband and manager of singer Celine Dion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Forestier</span> Musical artist

Louise Forestier is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schwartz's</span> Restaurant in Montreal, Quebec

Schwartz's, also known as the Schwartz's Deli and the Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen, is a Jewish delicatessen restaurant and take-out, located on Saint-Laurent Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1928, by Reuben Schwartz, a Jewish immigrant from Romania. Its long popularity and reputation has led to it being considered a cultural institution and landmark in Montreal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranee Lee</span> Canadian jazz musician (born 1942

Ranee Lee, CM is an American jazz singer and musician who resides in Montreal, Quebec. She is also an actor, author, educator and television host. Referred as “Montreal's Queen of Jazz,” Lee is a Juno Award winner, two-time Top Canadian Female Jazz Vocalist by Jazz Report Magazine and was honored with the International Association of Jazz Educators Awards for her outstanding contribution to jazz music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marjo (singer)</span> Musical artist

Marjolène Morin, professionally known as Marjo, is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec.

Trevor Winston Payne, is a Canadian musician and member of the Order of Canada (1996). He is the founder of the Montreal Black Community Youth Choir, as well as the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir.

The Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir is a choir from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that sings primarily traditional and contemporary Gospel music. The choir's repertoire also includes Gregorian chant, Bach chorales, oratorios, traditional Zulu music and modern jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorraine Klaasen</span> South African-born Canadian world music singer

Lorraine Klaasen is a London, Ontario-based world music singer. Her mother was South African jazz singer Thandi Klaasen. She has performed at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, and her international itinerary has included the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean. She and her mother were also reputed to be two of Nelson Mandela's favorite musicians.

The Unison Tour was the third concert tour by Celine Dion. The tour was organized to support her ninth studio album Unison (1990). Dion performed her show 75 times in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taking Chances World Tour</span> 2008–09 concert tour by Celine Dion

The Taking Chances World Tour was the ninth concert tour by French Canadian singer Céline Dion, in-support of her thirteenth French-language and 22nd studio album, D'elles (2007), as well as her tenth English-language and 23rd studio album, Taking Chances (2007). The tour marked Dion’s return to performing on a global scale, after five successful years with her groundbreaking Las Vegas residency, A New Day.... It was also her first concert tour in nine years, following her Let's Talk About Love World Tour (1998/99).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liberty Silver</span> Musical artist

Liberty Silver is a Canadian singer, based in Toronto, Ontario. Her music draws inspiration from diverse genres, ranging from R&B, Jazz, Pop, Gospel, Reggae to Rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Biddle</span> Canadian jazz singer and actress

Stephanie Andrea Biddle is a Canadian jazz singer and actress.

<i>Celine: Through the Eyes of the World</i> 2010 Canadian film

Celine: Through the Eyes of the World is a documentary–concert film chronicling the life of Canadian singer, Celine Dion during her 2008–2009 Taking Chances World Tour. It premiered in Miami on 16 February 2010 and was released by The Hot Ticket in theaters in North America on 17 February 2010. It was also released in Australia and the United Kingdom. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with most of them indicating it is mainly for the fans. Celine: Through the Eyes of the World grossed $1,027,341 in Canada alone and became the number-one domestic movie there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Véronic DiCaire</span> Musical artist

Véronic DiCaire is a Canadian Franco-Ontarian singer and impressionist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Bocan</span> Musical artist

Joe Bocan is the stage name of Johanne Beauchamp, a Canadian pop singer and actress from Quebec. She is best known for her 1989 single "Repartir à zéro".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courage World Tour</span> 2019–20 concert tour by Celine Dion

The Courage World Tour was the fourteenth concert tour by Canadian singer Celine Dion, in support of her English-language studio album Courage (2019). It was her first world tour in over a decade, since her Taking Chances World Tour. The tour began in Quebec City, Canada, on 18 September 2019 and concluded in Newark, New Jersey on 8 March 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeanick Fournier</span> Canadian singer

Jeanick Fournier is a Canadian singer from Saguenay, Quebec, most noted as the winner of the second season of Canada's Got Talent.

Alma Faye Brooks is an American-born Canadian disco singer. She is most noted as a two-time Juno Award nominee for Best New Female Vocalist, receiving nods at the Juno Awards of 1978 and the Juno Awards of 1980.

References

  1. Marilla Steuter-Martin, "Soul singer Michelle Sweeney marries music and monologue in new storytelling show". CBC News, January 11, 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Soul diva Michelle Sweeney remembers the day she blew Celine Dion off the stage". Montreal Gazette . August 27, 2014.
  3. Lucinda Chodan, "Misbehavin' Montreal-style; Local cast undaunted by success of musical". Montreal Gazette , May 16, 1986.
  4. Bill Brownstein, "Michelle Sweeney is back belting it out at Le Bijou". Montreal Gazette , August 15, 1987.
  5. Bill Brownstein, "New stage, new musical make Diligence top dinner-theatre". Montreal Gazette , April 15, 1989.
  6. Tom Barrett, "Film on elderly avoids cheap laughs". Vancouver Sun , October 1, 1990.
  7. Alan Hustak, "Fox buys made-in-Montreal sitcom: Is Student Bodies the Welcome Back Kotter of the '90s?". Montreal Gazette , March 2, 1997.
  8. Pat Donnelly, "AIDS play covers all bases: Russell's wildly popular production comes to Montreal - in English and French". Montreal Gazette , October 21, 1998.
  9. Rochelle Lash, "Vision sees great future: Gala launches Black History Month, honours diva Michelle Sweeney". Montreal Gazette , February 7, 2000.
  10. Bill Brownstein, "Diva Michelle Sweeney reveals the story of her abusive relationship". Montreal Gazette , January 7, 2020.