Line Renaud

Born into a music-hall family, singer and actress Line Renaud scored her first hit in 1949 with "Ma cabane au Canada". Born Jacqueline Enté into a modest family in Pont-de-Nieppe near Armentières (Nord) on July 2, 1928, she studied singing at the Lille Conservatoire and took part in radio talent shows. After making her debut with the Orchestre de Radio-Lille in 1944, she moved to Paris, where she was hired at the Folies-Belleville under the name Jacqueline Ray, and met Lolou Gasté, who wrote songs for her before marrying her in 1950. Her new stage name was Line Renaud, and she sang on Radio-Luxembourg, before appearing in Pierre Chenal's La Foire aux chimères and Jacques Daroy's Une belle garce. Her first hit on record, "Ma cabane au Canada " (1947), won the Grand Prix du disque and launched a long career marked by classics such as "Étoile des neiges" and "Frou frou " (1950), "Ma p'tite folie" (1952), "Le Chien dans la vitrine" (1953) and "Mister Banjo " (1956). His varied repertoire included originals and adaptations of American hits and exotic tunes in vogue, set to mambo and cha-cha-cha rhythms. "Mademoiselle from Armentières", as she was nicknamed in the U.S. after one of her songs, sang a duet with Dean Martin ("Relax-ay-voo") and led a revue at the Moulin-Rouge, before being hired in 1963 in Las Vegas. Back in France, she hosted variety shows such as Line directe on television and the Parisline revue at the Casino de Paris. In 1978, she scored another hit with her disco cover of Barry Manilow's "Copacabana ". Parallel to her long career as an actress, Line Renaud made her theatrical debut in 1981 in Folle Amanda, and devoted much of her efforts to the fight against AIDS, becoming vice-president of the Sidaction association. Awarded the Légion d'honneur, she was promoted from officer in 1994 to grand-croix in 2022, and also received the title of commandeur de l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1996. In 2010, Line Renaud made a return to song with the album Rue Washington, featuring contributions from Johnny Hallyday (whom she sponsored in the early days), Mylène Farmer, Michel Delpech, Grand Corps Malade, Christophe Maé, Julien Clerc, Marc Lavoine, Alain Chamfort and Salvatore Adamo. In May 2011, at the age of 82, she made her first appearance at the Olympia in Paris, immortalized by a recording.

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