Biography
In 1963, public attention frequently centered on the Vietnam conflict, shifting attitudes toward sexuality and drugs, and the growing influence of rock and roll. Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique reached stores, Harvard expelled Timothy Leary for his LSD advocacy, and the movie Tom Jones drew large audiences. While Elvis Presley released Girls, Girls, Girls and young people adopted the slogan “Make Love, Not War,” an unlikely performer rose to prominence. Known as both The Singing Nun and Soeur Sourire, Belgian nun Jeanine Deckers, also called Sister Luc-Gabrielle, reached number one with “Dominique,” a song honoring St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican order. Deckers performed the single in English and French, displacing the Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” to the second position.
Having joined her religious community in 1959, Sister Luc-Gabrielle composed “Dominique” and taped several original pieces strictly for private distribution as gifts. Philips Records recognized her commercial promise, signed her to a contract, and promoted her under the name Soeur Sourire; U.S. listeners knew her as The Singing Nun. Although she never pursued celebrity, she supplied a taped appearance for Ed Sullivan’s program in 1964; live performances held no appeal for her, and her Mother Superior nearly prevented even the broadcast. In 1967 she reinforced her discomfort with fame by issuing the album I Am Not a Star.
The Mother Superior criticized the hit as “impertinent,” and tensions rose further when MGM produced a 1965 musical depicting Deckers’s life, casting Debbie Reynolds as a moped-riding nun romantically linked to Chad Everett. That year Deckers withdrew from public view and abandoned her music career, only to reverse course in 1966, leave the convent, and resume recording. Her later work addressed contentious topics; “The Golden Pill” endorsed birth-control pills despite papal opposition. In Belgium she and Annie Pescher established a school for children with autism.
Earlier fame, however, created lasting difficulties. After the Belgian government demanded repayment of more than sixty thousand dollars in back taxes stemming from her recording years, Deckers and Pescher died by suicide in 1985, ingesting a mixture of pills and alcohol. The tax claim threatened their school even though Deckers had donated all her earnings to her religious order.
Having joined her religious community in 1959, Sister Luc-Gabrielle composed “Dominique” and taped several original pieces strictly for private distribution as gifts. Philips Records recognized her commercial promise, signed her to a contract, and promoted her under the name Soeur Sourire; U.S. listeners knew her as The Singing Nun. Although she never pursued celebrity, she supplied a taped appearance for Ed Sullivan’s program in 1964; live performances held no appeal for her, and her Mother Superior nearly prevented even the broadcast. In 1967 she reinforced her discomfort with fame by issuing the album I Am Not a Star.
The Mother Superior criticized the hit as “impertinent,” and tensions rose further when MGM produced a 1965 musical depicting Deckers’s life, casting Debbie Reynolds as a moped-riding nun romantically linked to Chad Everett. That year Deckers withdrew from public view and abandoned her music career, only to reverse course in 1966, leave the convent, and resume recording. Her later work addressed contentious topics; “The Golden Pill” endorsed birth-control pills despite papal opposition. In Belgium she and Annie Pescher established a school for children with autism.
Earlier fame, however, created lasting difficulties. After the Belgian government demanded repayment of more than sixty thousand dollars in back taxes stemming from her recording years, Deckers and Pescher died by suicide in 1985, ingesting a mixture of pills and alcohol. The tax claim threatened their school even though Deckers had donated all her earnings to her religious order.
Singles