The Singing Nun The Singing Nun Jeanne-Paule Marie "Jeannine" Deckers (17 October 1933 – 29 March 1985), better known as Sœur Sourire ("Sister Smile", often credited as The Singing Nun in English-speaking countries), was a Belgian singer-songwriter and initially a member of the Dominican Order in Belgium as Sister Luc-Gabrielle. She acquired world fame in 1963 with the release of the French-language song "Dominique", which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and other charts. She was born Jeanne Paule Deckers in Laeken in 1933, the daughter of a pâtisserie shop owner, and was educated in a Catholic school in Brussels. She was a
2000 in British music charts achieved respectable success, but were somewhat eclipsed by American females during the year. In January, Gabrielle topped both the singles chart and the albums chart. Her new release "Rise" topped the charts (it failed to make the Top 20 upon initial release in 1999) and the title track became her first No. 1 single since her debut shot to the top 7 years ago. She followed up her two-week No. 1 single with an additional Top 10 hit and a further Top 20 hit. She was able to continue successfully into the new millennium. Other British females to achieve success