The Singing Nun
Encyclopedia
Jeanine Deckers known in English as The Singing Nun, was a Belgian
nun
, and a member (as Sister Luc Gabriel) of the Dominican
Fichermont Convent
in Belgium
. She became internationally famous in 1963 as Sœur Sourire (Sister Smile) when she scored a hit with the song "Dominique
". In the English-language world, she is credited on her records as "The Singing Nun".
Fichermont Convent in Waterloo
, Belgium
. While in the convent, she wrote, sang and performed her own songs, which were so well received by the order and at retreats that the monastery
decided to let her record an album, which visitors and retreatists to the monastery would be able to purchase.
In 1963, the album was recorded in Brussels
at Philips
. The single "Dominique" became an international hit. Many radio stations in the U.S. played it and other softer hits more often in the wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination
. Overnight, the Dominican nun was an international celebrity with the stage name of (Sister Smile). She gave concerts and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on 5 January 1964. , "Dominique" is the only Belgian song that has ever been a number one hit single in the United States.
was made about her, starring Debbie Reynolds
in the title role. Deckers rejected the film as "fiction".
Deckers did not gain much from this international fame, and her second LP, Her Joys, Her Songs, did not get much attention and disappeared almost as soon as it was released. Most of her earnings were in fact taken away by Philips, her producer, while the rest would go to the convent. In 1967, Deckers left her monastery to continue her musical career under the name Luc Dominique. She could not keep her initial name "", as Philips owned the rights. She released an album called I Am Not a Star in Heaven. Her repertoire consisted of religious songs and songs for children. Despite her renewed musical emphasis, Deckers gradually faded into obscurity, possibly because of her own disdain for fame: she was never able to duplicate the success of her one hit.
doctrines and eventually became a public advocate for contraception
. She also agreed with John Lennon
's statements about Jesus
in 1966. In 1967, she recorded a song entitled "Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill" — a paean
to artificial birth control under the name Luc Dominique. It was a commercial failure.
in Belgium. In the late 1970s, the Belgian government claimed that she owed approximately $63,000 USD in back taxes. Deckers countered that the royalties from her recording were given to the convent and therefore she was not liable for payment of any personal income taxes. Lacking any receipts to prove her donations to the convent and her religious order, Deckers ran into heavy financial problems. In 1982, she tried, once again as Sœur Sourire, to score a hit with a disco
synthesizer
version of "Dominique", but this last attempt to resume her singing career failed.
Citing their financial difficulties in a note, she and her companion of ten years, Annie Pécher, both committed suicide
by an overdose of barbiturate
s and alcohol on 29 March 1985. She was 51.
at The Grove Street Playhouse. The play, which was written and directed by Blair Fell, was loosely based on the events in Deckers' life. The production, which featured several musical numbers, followed the renamed character Jeanine Fou's life from her entry into the convent until her death with Pécher. The New York Times review stated the play "milks much of its comic mileage from the incongruous, and willfully tasteless, pairing of its holy setting and its trashy, Jacqueline Susann
-style dialogue...In dressing up despair in barbed frivolity, Mr. Fell provides his own skewed equivalent of tragic catharsis." The Catholic League
spoke out publicly against the production.
In 2006, a musical version of Fell's play was staged during the New York Musical Theater Festival, produced by George DeMarco and David Gerard, both of whom produced the 1996 production. The musical featured music and lyrics by Andy Monroe and a book by Fell (who also contributed additional lyrics); it was directed by Michael Schiralli.
In 2009, Sœur Sourire
, a Franco-Belgian biopic starring Cécile de France
as Deckers, was released in cinemas.
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
, and a member (as Sister Luc Gabriel) of the Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Fichermont Convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. She became internationally famous in 1963 as Sœur Sourire (Sister Smile) when she scored a hit with the song "Dominique
Dominique
"Dominique" is a popular song in French by Sœur Sourire , of Belgium, also known as The Singing Nun. It is about Saint Dominic, a Spanish-born priest and founder of the Dominican Order, of which she was a member . The English version of the song was written by Noël Regney...
". In the English-language world, she is credited on her records as "The Singing Nun".
Early years
Born Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, she was a nun in the DominicanDominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
Fichermont Convent in Waterloo
Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. On December 31, 2009, Waterloo had a total population of 29,573. The total area is 21.03 km² which gives a population density of 1,407 inhabitants per km²...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. While in the convent, she wrote, sang and performed her own songs, which were so well received by the order and at retreats that the monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
decided to let her record an album, which visitors and retreatists to the monastery would be able to purchase.
In 1963, the album was recorded in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
at Philips
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
. The single "Dominique" became an international hit. Many radio stations in the U.S. played it and other softer hits more often in the wake of the John F. Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. Overnight, the Dominican nun was an international celebrity with the stage name of (Sister Smile). She gave concerts and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show on 5 January 1964. , "Dominique" is the only Belgian song that has ever been a number one hit single in the United States.
Effects of fame and further musical career
In 1966, a movie called The Singing NunThe Singing Nun (film)
The Singing Nun is a 1966 American semi-biographical film about the life of Jeanine Deckers, a nun who recorded the chart-topping hit song "Dominique". It starred Debbie Reynolds in the title role. It was Henry Koster's final directing job....
was made about her, starring Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
in the title role. Deckers rejected the film as "fiction".
Deckers did not gain much from this international fame, and her second LP, Her Joys, Her Songs, did not get much attention and disappeared almost as soon as it was released. Most of her earnings were in fact taken away by Philips, her producer, while the rest would go to the convent. In 1967, Deckers left her monastery to continue her musical career under the name Luc Dominique. She could not keep her initial name "", as Philips owned the rights. She released an album called I Am Not a Star in Heaven. Her repertoire consisted of religious songs and songs for children. Despite her renewed musical emphasis, Deckers gradually faded into obscurity, possibly because of her own disdain for fame: she was never able to duplicate the success of her one hit.
Political views
Deckers became increasingly critical of CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
doctrines and eventually became a public advocate for contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
. She also agreed with John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's statements about Jesus
More popular than Jesus
Angry reactions flared up in August 1966, after John Lennon's remark that The Beatles had become "more popular than Jesus" was quoted by the American teen magazine, Datebook. Lennon originally made the remark when an English newspaper reporter, Maureen Cleave, interviewed him at home for a...
in 1966. In 1967, she recorded a song entitled "Glory Be to God for the Golden Pill" — a paean
Paean
A paean is a song or lyric poem expressing triumph or thanksgiving. In classical antiquity, it is usually performed by a chorus, but some examples seem intended for an individual voice...
to artificial birth control under the name Luc Dominique. It was a commercial failure.
Last years
Her musical career over, Deckers opened a school for autistic childrenAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
in Belgium. In the late 1970s, the Belgian government claimed that she owed approximately $63,000 USD in back taxes. Deckers countered that the royalties from her recording were given to the convent and therefore she was not liable for payment of any personal income taxes. Lacking any receipts to prove her donations to the convent and her religious order, Deckers ran into heavy financial problems. In 1982, she tried, once again as Sœur Sourire, to score a hit with a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
version of "Dominique", but this last attempt to resume her singing career failed.
Citing their financial difficulties in a note, she and her companion of ten years, Annie Pécher, both committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by an overdose of barbiturate
Barbiturate
Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, and can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia. They are also effective as anxiolytics, as hypnotics, and as anticonvulsants...
s and alcohol on 29 March 1985. She was 51.
Theatrical portrayals
In 1996, The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun premiered Off-BroadwayOff-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at The Grove Street Playhouse. The play, which was written and directed by Blair Fell, was loosely based on the events in Deckers' life. The production, which featured several musical numbers, followed the renamed character Jeanine Fou's life from her entry into the convent until her death with Pécher. The New York Times review stated the play "milks much of its comic mileage from the incongruous, and willfully tasteless, pairing of its holy setting and its trashy, Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann
Jacqueline Susann was an American author known for her best-selling novels. Her most notable work was Valley of the Dolls, a book that broke sales records and spawned an Oscar-nominated 1967 film and a short-lived TV series.-Early years:Jacqueline Susann was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to...
-style dialogue...In dressing up despair in barbed frivolity, Mr. Fell provides his own skewed equivalent of tragic catharsis." The Catholic League
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
spoke out publicly against the production.
In 2006, a musical version of Fell's play was staged during the New York Musical Theater Festival, produced by George DeMarco and David Gerard, both of whom produced the 1996 production. The musical featured music and lyrics by Andy Monroe and a book by Fell (who also contributed additional lyrics); it was directed by Michael Schiralli.
In 2009, Sœur Sourire
Soeur Sourire (film)
Soeur Sourire is a drama film directed by Stijn Coninx and written by Coninx, Ariane Fert and Chris Vander Stappen. The film stars Cécile De France as Jeanine Deckers...
, a Franco-Belgian biopic starring Cécile de France
Cécile de France
Cécile de France is a Belgian actress. After achieving success in French cinema hits such as L'Art de la séduction and Irène , she gained international attention for her lead role in Haute Tension and Hereafter .- Career :Born in Namur, she left Belgium at the age of 17 to go to Paris where she...
as Deckers, was released in cinemas.
Further reading
- Luc Maddelein & Leen van den Berg, Sœur Sourire. Zie me graag, Leuven, Davidsfonds, 2005, ISBN 90-5826-330-4
- Chadwick, D.A.: "The Singing Nun Story: The Life and Death of Soeur Sourire" 2010, ISBN 1453710965
External links
- [ The Singing Nun] at Allmusic
- The Singing Nun at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- :fr:Sœur Sourire French Wikipedia article with lyrics of first verse of "Dominique"