Jeannne Deckers (1933-1985) is famous all over the world as 'The Singing Nun' and for her massive hit "Dominique", which reached number 1 all over the world and sold more than 1.5 million copies.
She is the only Belgian ever to achieve a number one hit in America and temporarily topped such heavy hitters as Stevie Wonder and The Beatles in the charts.
She joined the Dominican Fichermont Convent in Belgium as Sister Luc-Gabrielle. She was popular in the convent for her music and was encouraged by the other nuns to record an album in 1963. One song, "Dominique," soared to the top of the charts. Overnight, the Belgian nun was an international celebrity with the stage name of Soeur Sourire (Sister Smile). She performed in concerts and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. In 1965, a movie called The Singing Nun, starring Debbie Reynolds, was made about her, though she rejected the film as "fictional".
Around the same time, she stopped performing and entered a rigorous religious life in the convent. In 1967 she left the convent and recorded her second album, aptly titled "I Am Not a Star". Though she was deeply religious, she was also increasingly critical of the conservatism of the Roman Catholic Church and she became an advocate of birth control.
Having faded into obscurity, she opened a school for autistic children in Belgium with a close friend, Annie Pescher. By the early 1980s the Belgian government began claiming that she owed back taxes of more than $47,000; she claimed that the money was given to the convent and therefore exempt from taxes. In 1983, she tried to raise money by releasing an updated electronic version of 'Dominique' but it failed to sell in volume. Sadly, she and Pescher both committed suicide in 1985. "We hope God will welcome us. He saw us suffer," the women wrote in their last letter. Belgium's Catholic authorities granted their wish to be buried in consecrated ground. Only a handful of friends and family members were on hand to mourn.
Her life is described in detail in the French book "Soeur Sourire: A Faceless Voice, Passions and the Death of the Fichermont Singing Nun" written by Henry Everaert and based on The Singing Nun's own journals.
Here are the lyrics to "Dominique" :
Dominique, nique, nique
S'en allait tout simplement,
Routier pauvre et chantant
En tous chemins, en tous lieux
Il ne parle que du bon Dieu.
A l'époque où Jean Sans Terre
D'Angleterre était roi,
Dominique, notre Père,
Combattit les Albigeois.
(Au Refrain)
Certain jour un hérétique
Par des ronces le conduit,
Mais notre Père Dominique
Par sa joie le convertit.
(Au Refrain)
Ni chameau, ni diligence,
Il parcourt l'Europe à pied.
Scandinavie ou Provence
Dans la sainte pauvreté.
(Au Refrain)
Enflamma de toute écoles
Filles et garçons pleins d'ardeur,
Et pour semer la Parole
Inventa les Frères Prêcheurs.
(Au Refrain)
Chez Dominique et Ses Frères
Le pain s'en vint à manquer
Et deux anges se présentèrent,
Portant deux grands pains dorés.
(Au Refrain)
Dominique vit en rêve
Les prêcheurs du monde entier,
Sous le manteau de la Vierge
En grand nombre rassemblés.
(Au Refrain)
Dominique, mon bon Père,
Garde-nous simples et gais
Pour annoncer à nos frères
La Vie et La Vérité.
Jeannne Deckers (1933-1985) is famous all over the world as 'The Singing Nun' and for her massive hit "Dominique", which reached number 1 all over the world and sold more than 1.5 million copies. 
Around the same time, she stopped performing and entered a rigorous religious life in the convent. In 1967 she left the convent and recorded her second album, aptly titled "I Am Not a Star". Though she was deeply religious, she was also increasingly critical of the conservatism of the Roman Catholic Church and she became an advocate of birth control.
Here are the lyrics to "Dominique" :