“Dominique”

Today in rock history, in 1985, The Singing Nun, Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, AKA Sister Luc-Gabrielle ("Dominique") commits suicide. How could this happen, you wonder? Well, in 1967, Deckers left her monastery to continue her musical career under the name Luc Dominique and released an album called I Am Not a Star in Heaven. Her repertoire consisted of religious songs and songs for children. Most of her earnings went to the convent. 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 wonder. Her musical career over, Deckers opened a school for autistic children in Belgium. In the late 1970s (mentioned in the July 22, 1978 broadcast of American Top 40), the Belgian government claimed that she owed around US$63,000 in back taxes. Deckers countered that the money was given to the convent and therefore exempt from 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 Soeur Sourire, to score a hit with a disco 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, Anna Pécher, both committed suicide by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol. A disco version of “Dominique?” OMG! If you’ve ever heard that, let me know! So let’s enjoy (if that is truly the word for it) this song one more time, and light a candle for The Singing Nun… thanks to http://www.oldiesmusic.com/cal.htm and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singing_Nun for the info, and keep on rockin’!