Lucille Starr
singer, yodeller | born 1938
BornLucille Marie Raymonde Savoie on May 13, 1939 in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada
Biographyby Sarah Boesveld
One of Canada’s most popular country singers, Lucille Starr is famous not only for breaking down language barriers—she also broke down walls between genres. A classically trained vocalist, her greatest success came with country music audiences, surprising for a francophone born on the Prairies. Her breakthrough cut, “Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes” (better known as “The French Song,” backed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass), made her the first Canadian artist to sell more than a million copies of a song. It was a massive feat at a time when the Beatles were topping the charts. It also made her the first Canadian woman to earn a gold record. Prior to her solo success, she also sang as half of the Canadian Sweethearts, a duo she formed with husband, Bob Regan. But it was her biggest tune, “The French Song,” that stands as a testament to her vocal skills: even if the audience could only understand the solitary English verse, it still became an international success. All that mattered, in the end, was the passion in that voice.
IN DEPTH
Within the first few bars of “The French Song,” Lucille Starr’s warm crescendo and unmistakable country cry instantly affirms one thing: this woman has international appeal. Sung almost entirely in French, the song’s meaning transcends language—in Starr’s vibrato resides the pain and the joy of an artist whose life was a heady mix of highs and lows, both personal and professional. It was a song about yearning, something universally understood. It became a monster hit that sent the feisty young singer soaring onto the global stage—she changed her name to Starr because that’s what she intended to become.
Lucille Starr’s legacy is the almost effortless blending of genres and unrivalled vocal versatility.
In the song’s wake, Starr did variety shows all over the United States, touring the Pacific Rim and scoring top chart hits in Europe. All the while, she juggled her career as one half of the Canadian Sweethearts, a duo she sang in with husband, Bob Regan—a man who beat her and cheated on her and made sure she didn’t see a single cent from her hit single. “I went through a living hell but I loved music that much,” she told the Winnipeg Free Press in 2010. “I wouldn’t change anything. Well, maybe I would have cut my first marriage a whole lot shorter.” Her powerful voice and upbeat performances (as heard on the rockabilly classic “Eenie Meenie Miney Moe”) proved she had Wanda Jackson’s swagger and the vocal chops of Patsy Cline. Tammy Wynette surely learned a thing or two from Starr’s emotive delivery of songs like “My Happiness,” recorded in 1962, and 1969’s “Lonely Street,” which Starr recorded with legendary Nashville-sound producer Billy Sherrill, around the same time he cut it with Wynette.
But Starr’s versatility goes beyond rockabilly swing and Nashville country—she is also an accomplished yodeller, her skills in fine form on tracks like “Yodel Love Call.” In 1967 Starr divorced Regan, and she disbanded the Canadian Sweethearts in 1977. She would never have another hit like “The French Song,” but her legacy, further cemented when she became the first female inductee in the Canadian Country Music Association’s Hall of Honour in 1987, is the almost effortless blending of genres and unrivalled vocal versatility. Canadians have taken note: a jukebox musical celebrating her life and career was staged in Winnipeg in 2010 and a street in Coquitlam, B.C., near the francophone community of Maillardville where she spent much of her youth, is now named Lucille Starr Way.
One of Canada’s most popular country singers, Lucille Starr is famous not only for breaking down language barriers—she also broke down walls between genres. A classically trained vocalist, her greatest success came with country music audiences, surprising for a francophone born on the Prairies. Her breakthrough cut, “Quand le soleil dit bonjour aux montagnes” (better known as “The French Song,” backed by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass), made her the first Canadian artist to sell more than a million copies of a song. It was a massive feat at a time when the Beatles were topping the charts. It also made her the first Canadian woman to earn a gold record. Prior to her solo success, she also sang as half of the Canadian Sweethearts, a duo she formed with husband, Bob Regan. But it was her biggest tune, “The French Song,” that stands as a testament to her vocal skills: even if the audience could only understand the solitary English verse, it still became an international success. All that mattered, in the end, was the passion in that voice.
IN DEPTH
Within the first few bars of “The French Song,” Lucille Starr’s warm crescendo and unmistakable country cry instantly affirms one thing: this woman has international appeal. Sung almost entirely in French, the song’s meaning transcends language—in Starr’s vibrato resides the pain and the joy of an artist whose life was a heady mix of highs and lows, both personal and professional. It was a song about yearning, something universally understood. It became a monster hit that sent the feisty young singer soaring onto the global stage—she changed her name to Starr because that’s what she intended to become.
Lucille Starr’s legacy is the almost effortless blending of genres and unrivalled vocal versatility.
In the song’s wake, Starr did variety shows all over the United States, touring the Pacific Rim and scoring top chart hits in Europe. All the while, she juggled her career as one half of the Canadian Sweethearts, a duo she sang in with husband, Bob Regan—a man who beat her and cheated on her and made sure she didn’t see a single cent from her hit single. “I went through a living hell but I loved music that much,” she told the Winnipeg Free Press in 2010. “I wouldn’t change anything. Well, maybe I would have cut my first marriage a whole lot shorter.” Her powerful voice and upbeat performances (as heard on the rockabilly classic “Eenie Meenie Miney Moe”) proved she had Wanda Jackson’s swagger and the vocal chops of Patsy Cline. Tammy Wynette surely learned a thing or two from Starr’s emotive delivery of songs like “My Happiness,” recorded in 1962, and 1969’s “Lonely Street,” which Starr recorded with legendary Nashville-sound producer Billy Sherrill, around the same time he cut it with Wynette.
But Starr’s versatility goes beyond rockabilly swing and Nashville country—she is also an accomplished yodeller, her skills in fine form on tracks like “Yodel Love Call.” In 1967 Starr divorced Regan, and she disbanded the Canadian Sweethearts in 1977. She would never have another hit like “The French Song,” but her legacy, further cemented when she became the first female inductee in the Canadian Country Music Association’s Hall of Honour in 1987, is the almost effortless blending of genres and unrivalled vocal versatility. Canadians have taken note: a jukebox musical celebrating her life and career was staged in Winnipeg in 2010 and a street in Coquitlam, B.C., near the francophone community of Maillardville where she spent much of her youth, is now named Lucille Starr Way.
Contemporary Country Singer-Songwriter | born 1961
artist, singer-songwriter | 1950 - 1996
