This has become something of a phenomenon since the first nun picked up a guitar and had a hit record with Dominique in 1963, although it hasn’t always ended well.
Jeanne-Paule Marie “Jeannine” Deckers, better known as Sœur Sourire (”Sister Smile”) and often called The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and a member of the Dmonican Order in Belgium as Sister Luc Gabriel. She acquired widespread fame in 1963 with the release of the Begian French song “Dominique”, which topped the US Billboard and other charts. Owing to confusion over the terms of the recording contract, she was reduced to poverty, and also experienced a crisis of faith, quitting the order, though still remaining a Catholic. She committed suicide with her lifelong partner Annie Pécher.
Two years later nuns were singing again. This time in the world wide smash hit musical ‘The Sound of Music’ starring Julie Andrews as Maria, a free-spirited young Austrian woman studying to become a nun at Nonnber Abbey in Salzburg in 1938. Her youthful enthusiasm and lack of discipline cause some concern.
Perhaps the their suucess meant that they were a difficult act to follow because the Singing Nun disappears from our screen and the charts until the unlikely appearance of Whoopie Goldberg as Sister Mary Clarence in Sister Act in 1992. In 1968, Deloris Wilson is a young Cathoic school student, who is less than serious about her studies, much to the chagrin of her teachers who are nuns. In the present, the adult Deloris is a lounge singer in Reno, Nevada, performing as Deloris Van Cartier. After Deloris witnesses her gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca execute an informant, police lieutenant Eddie Souther places her in witness protection She is brought to Saint Katherine’s Convent in Saint Katherine’s Parish, located in a run-down neighborhood in San Francisco.
At the next Sunday Mass, Deloris leads the much-improved choir in a traditional performance of “Hail Holy Queen”, then shifts into a combined gospel and rock-and- roll interpretation. Although the reverend mother is infuriated, Monsignor O’Hara congratulates the choir’s unorthodox performance for attracting new people to the service. Convinced by Deloris, he allows the nuns to clean the church and the neighborhood. Their singing and efforts to revitalize the neighborhood attract media attention, and the parish starts to thrive.
Returning to the singing of actual nuns, the Poor Clares of Arundel are using their beautiful voices to provide light in these darker times…It might come as no surprise that the ethereal sound of nuns’ traditional planuchant has resonated with listeners across the globe in 2020, with many of us in need of a beautiful moment of music amid rather turbulent times. But this community of 23 nuns living in the south of England have found themselves unexpected recording stars. Their spiritual album, Light for the World, took the No.1 spot in both the Classical Artist Album Chart and Classical Specialist Album Chart after its release in October. And now, more than 800 years since they were founded, The Poor Clares of Arundel have become the UK’s best-selling classical artist debut of 2020.
Sister Cristina Scuccia (also known as Suor Cristina) is an Italian Ursuline nun who won the 2014 season of The Voice in Italy as part of Team J-Ax, resulting in a record deal with Universal. In 2013, she won a Christian music competition as part of the Good News Festival.
