Jacques Veneruso (born 1959) is an Algerian-born French musician and songwriter.
Between 1976 and 1988, he played in the band Canada, and since then has worked as a songwriter for various French-language artists.
Career
Alenda/Canada: 1976–88
In 1976, Veneruso, together with
Gildas Arzel (guitar), Gwenn Arzel (drums),
Erick Benzi
Erick Benzi (born 1 March 1959) is a French musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer from Marseille.
He was previously part of the duo Die Form, with Gildas Arzel, and the group Canada (with Arzel, Jacques Veneruso, and Gwenn Arzel) ...
(percussion, keyboard, saxophone), and Robert Prud'homme formed the group Alenda in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, France.
They later moved to Paris, changing their name to Canada and signing a contract with
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
. Canada released their first single, "Les yeux dans les yeux", in 1984. "Touché au cœur" followed a year later.
In 1986, they presented a new single to their label, titled "Mourir les sirènes", but EMI refused to release it for nearly a year. In January 1987, the song entered the French Top 50 singles chart, where it remained for fourteen weeks, reaching number 27. It ranks as the 105th best-selling single of that year, with more than 300,000 copies sold. In 1988, Canada published their only studio album, titled ''Sur les traces''. Later that year, they were spotted by musician
Jean-Jacques Goldman
Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a retired French singer-songwriter and record producer whose work remains hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017, he has been the highest-grossing ...
, who invited them to join him on his 1988 tour.
In 1989, Canada released their last single, "Ne m'oublie pas", which was later recorded by
Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career ...
and issued on his 1995 album, ''
Lorada
''Lorada'' is a 1995 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on June 20, 1995, and achieved success in France and Belgium (Wallonia). It provided four singles in France: "J'la croise tous les matins" (#7), "Ne m'oublie pas ...
''. Veneruso contributed songwriting, vocals, and both electric and acoustic guitar to ''Lorada''.
Songwriting
Veneruso has written songs for a variety of French-speaking artists, such as
Patrick Fiori
Patrick Chouchayan (; born 23 September 1969), known by his stage name Patrick Fiori (, ), is a French singer of Armenian descent.
Biography Beginnings
Fiori was born in Marseille to a French-Armenian father (Jacques Chouchayan) and a Corsica ...
,
Florent Pagny
Florent Pagny (; born 6 November 1961) is a French singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He records his work in French, as well as in Italian, Spanish and English. His greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer" and "Ma Liberté de p ...
,
Michel Sardou
Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor.
He is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, su ...
,
Yannick Noah
Yannick Noah (; born 18 May 1960) is a French former professional tennis player and singer, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. Noah won the French Open in 1983 French Open – Men's singles, 1983, and is a forme ...
,
Garou, and
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
. He has worked as
music director
A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...
for Pagny, Fiori, Sardou, and
Carole Fredericks.
In 2004, Veneruso wrote two tribute songs to his friend Carole Fredericks, three years after her death: "Ce qui nous manque de toi", interpreted by
Lââm together with Jean-Jacques Goldman,
Michael Jones, and Veneruso himself, and "Un dernier blues pour toi", sung by Jones and included on his 2004 album, ''Prises et reprises''.
Other work
In 2010, Veneruso served on the French jury at the
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
, alongside Varda Kakon, Florence Coste, Jean-Pierre Pasqualini, and Olivier Ottin.
Selected discography
* Canada – ''Sur les traces'' (1988)
*
Johnny Hallyday
Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and Pop music, pop singer and actor, credited with having brought rock and roll to France.
During a career ...
– ''
Lorada
''Lorada'' is a 1995 album recorded by French singer Johnny Hallyday. It was released on June 20, 1995, and achieved success in France and Belgium (Wallonia). It provided four singles in France: "J'la croise tous les matins" (#7), "Ne m'oublie pas ...
'' (1995)
*
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
– ''
1 fille & 4 types'' (2003)
Awards and recognition
* Nominated for
Félix Award
The Félix Award ( is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian province of Quebec.
The award
The firs ...
for Song of the Year, "Je resterai là" (1999)
*
Victoires de la Musique for the song "
Sous le vent
"Sous le vent" (meaning "under the wind") is a song by Canadian singers Garou and Celine Dion from Garou's debut album, '' Seul'' (2000). It was written by Jacques Veneruso and produced by Erick Benzi, with additional production by Humberto Gat ...
" (2002)
* Nominated for Félix Award for Song of the Year, "Sous le vent" (2002)
*
Prix Vincent-Scotto (
SACEM
The Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music or SACEM () is a French professional association collecting payments of artists’ rights and distributing the rights to the original songwriters, composers, and music publisher
A mus ...
) for the song "Je n'attendais que vous" (2002)
* Nominated for Félix Award for Song of the Year, "Ton histoire" (2008)
* Prix de l'Unac for the song "Parler à mon père" (2013)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veneruso, Jacques
1959 births
Living people
20th-century French male singers
21st-century French male singers
French male singer-songwriters
French singer-songwriters
French male guitarists