Michelle Sweeney is an American-Canadian actress and soul singer. Originally from

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, she moved to

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 Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in the 1980s to perform with the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, and has remained based in Montreal since. In addition to performing jazz, soul and blues music, she appeared alongside Ranee Lee and

Anthony Sherwood Anthony Sherwood (born 1949) is a Canadian actor, filmmaker and activist. He has been active in film, television, and theatre productions since his film debut in 1979. On television he is known for his role as Jason Locke on season four of ''Airwo ...

in a 1986 production of '' Ain't Misbehavin'''. She formed her own group, Michelle Sweeney's Good News Singers, in 1987, and released her first recorded single, "Our Love", that year. In 1988, she appeared on Quebec television alongside

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the " Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular musi ...

and Johanne Blouin, performing a medley of "

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In "Medley: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" (commonly called "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "The Age of Aquarius" or "Let the Sunshine In") is a medley of two songs written for the 1967 musical ''Hair'' by James Rado and Gerome Ragni (lyrics), and ...

" from the musical ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' with "Quand on arrive en ville" from the musical '' Starmania'', which saw Sweeney widely labelled as the star performer of the show. In 1989 she starred in a production of the jazz revue '' Eubie!'', and the following year she appeared as a tour guide in the docufiction film '' The Company of Strangers''. She has also had selected other film and television roles throughout her career, most notably in a regular role as school principal Mrs. Morton in the Canadian teen comedy series ''

Student Bodies ''Student Bodies'' is a 1981 American parody slasher comedy film written and directed by Mickey Rose. A spoof of slasher horror films such as ''Halloween'', '' Friday the 13th'' and '' Prom Night'', ''Student Bodies'' was the first film to s ...

'' from 1997 to 2000. In 1998 she appeared in a production of the

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

-themed musical ''

Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens ''Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens'' is a musical with music by Janet Hood and lyrics and book by Bill Russell. The work features songs and monologues inspired by the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt and Edgar Lee Masters' ''Spoon River ...

''. In 2000, Sweeney won the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for her career achievements. In 2020 Sweeney premiered her own original one-woman show ''Her Songs, My Story'', in which she blends performances of the music of

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

with personal reminiscences of her own life, including the revelation that she suffered for many years as a victim of

domestic abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

in her prior marriage.Bill Brownstein
"Diva Michelle Sweeney reveals the story of her abusive relationship"
''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', January 7, 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Michelle Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian musical theatre actresses Canadian jazz singers Canadian blues singers Canadian gospel singers Canadian rhythm and blues singers Canadian soul singers Canadian women jazz singers 20th-century Black Canadian women singers 20th-century Canadian women singers Black Canadian actresses Actresses from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Singers from Montreal Actresses from Cleveland American emigrants to Canada 21st-century Black Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers