Francis Martin Lavergne (born August 28, 1968 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec) is a Canadian musician and author."Kaya, dit l’Élu"
''Quartier Libre'', February 9, 2011. He has recorded and performed under the stage names Francis Martin and, as of 2011, Kaya;"Francis Martin, devenu Kaya, enseigne le bonheur par les rêves"
''

La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an independent nonprofit trust. ' was formerly a broadsheet daily, considered a newspaper of record in Canada. Its Sunday edi ...

'', March 31, 2011. under the latter name and as James K. Field, he has also published several works of spiritual literature.

History

After an early role in a touring production of '' Starmania'',"L'ex-chanteur Francis Martin troque le micro pour la plume et les rêves"
. ''L'Écho du Nord'', December 13, 2008. he began recording in 1984, but his first two albums met with little success. Between 1985 and 1987 he studied classical music at the

École de musique Vincent-d'Indy The école de musique Vincent-d'Indy is a subsidized private music college situated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the Outremont, Quebec, Outremont district, that specializes in music education. The school was named after the French composer, Vin ...

Outremont Outremont () is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by F ...

, while continuing with studio work and beginning to write songs himself.

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...

signed him in 1988, the same year that he signed a writing contract with

ATV Music Publishing ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbo ...

. Martin then recorded his third album in French, entitled ''Drôle de nuit'', in New York, and scored his first radio hit with "Elle ne C plus". He garnered a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1991 The Juno Awards of 1991, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 3 March 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia at a ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Paul Shaffer was the host for the ceremonie ...

, and a

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 ...

nomination for Pop-Rock Album of the Year in 1990. He went on to record his fourth album ''Quand on se donne'', which was released on

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

in 1992, with producer

Aldo Nova Aldo Nova is the stage name of Aldo Caporuscio (born November 13, 1956), a Canadian hard rock musician and music producer. He is a guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist. He gained recognition with his 1982 debut album '' Aldo Nova'', which peake ...

. Several songs from this album, including "Rock It", "Tous les jours je pense à toi" and the album's title track "Quand on se donne", were hits in French-speaking Canada and the album was

certified gold Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

on March 11, 1993. He was nominated for two Juno Awards in 1993: Best Selling Francophone Album and Male Vocalist of the Year, and "Tous les jours je pense à toi" was nominated for Pop Song of the Year at the 1993 Félix Awards. He followed up with a self-titled album in 1994, which was not as successful on the charts. Following that album, Martin left the music business and began writing spiritual literature under the pen names James K. Field and Kaya,"Le chanteur Francis Martin devient Kaya l'écrivain"
. '' Le Réveil'', December 18, 2008. later launching his own publishing company. He returned to recording in 2011, releasing an album of spiritual music, ''Born Under the Star of Change'', under the Kaya name.

Discography

*''Drôle de nuit'' (1989) *''Quand on se donne'' (1992) *''Francis Martin'' (1994) *''Born Under the Star of Change'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

*1990:

for Pop-Rock Album of the Year, ''Drôle de nuit'' (nominee) *1991: Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year (nominee) *1993: Juno Award for Best Selling Francophone Album (nominee), Juno Award for Male Vocalist of the Year (nominee) *1993: Felix Award for Pop Song of the Year, "Tous les jours je pense à toi" (nominee)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Francis 1968 births Canadian male singers Living people French-language singers of Canada Canadian pop singers Canadian rock singers Canadian spiritual writers Singers from Montreal Writers from Montreal