The Singing Nun

Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as and often called The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries, was a Belgian singer-songwriter and a member of the Dominican Order in Belgium as Sister Luc Gabriel.

She was born Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, in Laeken, Brussels, Belgium, in 1933, the daughter of a pâtisserie owner, and was educated in a Catholic school in Brussels.

Her mother thought of her as a "tomboy" and was pleased when she decided to join the all-girl Guides Catholiques de Belgique (GCB).

When she was fifteen she had a premonition that she would become a nun.

She became an avid Girl Guide who bought her first guitar to play at Guide evening events.

While studying for three years after high school, to obtain a diploma for teaching sculpture, she considered dedicating her life to religion in a Catholic convent.

From the age of 21, between 1954 and 1959, she taught sculpture to youngsters.

At scout camp in the summer of 1959 she met sixteen-year-old Annie Pécher, with whom she would develop a close relationship.

She became convinced, however, that her new teaching profession did not suit her and she resigned.

In September 1959 she entered the Missionary Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Fichermont, headquartered in the city of Waterloo, where she took the religious name "Sister Luc Gabriel".

While in the convent, Sister Luc Gabriel wrote, sang, and casually performed her own songs, which were so well received by her fellow nuns and visitors that her religious superiors encouraged her to record an album, which visitors and retreatants at the convent would be able to purchase.

In 1962, the album was recorded in Brussels at Philips; in 1963 the single "Dominique" became an international hit, and her album sold nearly two million copies.

Sister Luc Gabriel became an international celebrity and took the stage name of Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile").

She acquired widespread fame in 1963 with the release of the Belgian French song "Dominique", which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and other charts, along with her debut album.

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 died by suicide with her lifelong partner, Annie Pécher.

In 1963 the General Music Company published a book of 15 Soeur Sourire songs with English lyrics provided by Noël Regney, who later claimed that he had co-written "Dominique."

Later that same year she was sent by her order to take theology courses at the University of Louvain.

She liked the student life, if not her courses.

She gave several live concerts and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on television on 5 January 1964.

"Dominique" was the first song by a Belgian artist to be a number one hit single in the United States.

The song's chorus "Dominique, Nique, Nique" caused some amusement among French listeners as the word "niquer" is short for "fornicate", with "Nique" the equivalent of "fuck"; Deckers was unaware of link.

Sister Luc Gabriel found it difficult, however, having to live up to her publicity as "a true girl scout," always happy and in a good mood.

Deckers did not see much money from her international fame, and her second album, Her Joys, Her Songs, received little attention and disappeared almost as soon as it was released in 1964.

Most of her earnings were taken by Philips and her producer, while the rest automatically went to her religious congregation, which earned at least $100,000 in royalties.

In 1966, a biographical film loosely based on Sister Luc Gabriel was released called The Singing Nun and starring Debbie Reynolds in the central role.

Sister Luc Gabriel reportedly rejected the film as "fiction".

Pulled between two worlds and increasingly in disagreement with the Catholic Church, Deckers left her convent in 1966 to pursue a life as a lay Dominican instead.

She later reported that her departure resulted from a personality clash with her superiors, that she had been forced out of the convent and did not leave of her own free will.

Convent superiors denied the other nuns contact with her as she was described as a "bad influence".

After she left, however, she continued to adhere as closely as she could to the disciplines of the convent, still considering herself a nun, praying several times daily, and maintaining a simple and chaste lifestyle.

When she left the convent, her record company made her give up her professional names, "Sœur Sourire" and "The Singing Nun".

She attempted to continue her musical career under the name "Luc Dominique".

Angered by what she saw as the Catholic Church's failure to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, she released a song in 1967 in support of contraception, "Glory be to God for the Golden Pill".

This led to a backlash from the Catholic hierarchy which saw a succession of her planned concerts cancelled.

In 1968, Deckers turned to publishing, writing a book of inspirational verse, but that, too, failed to gain an audience.

Deckers went on to release an album titled I Am Not a Star in Heaven and developed a repertoire of religious songs and songs for children.

Despite her renewed emphasis on music, Deckers' career failed to prosper.

"I was never allowed to be depressed," she remembered in 1979.

"The mother superior used to censor my songs and take out any verses I wrote when I was feeling sad."