Sky was a Canadian R&B-influenced

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

duo from

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. It originally consisted of James Renald (1971–2018) and Antoine Sicotte, son of actor

Gilbert Sicotte Gilbert Sicotte, (born February 18, 1948) is a Canadian actor. Career Sicotte is known for roles in '' The Vultures (Les Vautours)'', ''Little Tougas (Ti-Cul Tougas)'', ''The Years of Dreams and Revolt (Les Années de rêves)'', '' The Secret ...

. Both were songwriters, producers, and multi-instrumentalists who met in 1992 at a music engineering school in Montreal. Anastasia Friedman replaced Renald as lead singer after he left, and

Karl Wolf Carl Abou Samah (; born April 18, 1979), better known by his stage name Karl Wolf, is a Lebanese-Canadian musician based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Recently named “Father of A-Pop” Karl Wolf has been a singer, songwriter, and producer sin ...

was the group's last vocalist.

History

First iteration

Formed in 1997, Sky created their own record label, Phat Royale, to release their first EP, ''America'', which was completely self-produced and included five songs. In Quebec, 43 radio stations began playing their music, leading to a record deal with

EMI Music Canada 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 ...

in 1998. Sky published their first studio album, '' Piece of Paradise'', in 1999. It was produced by

Peter Mokran Peter Mokran is an American mixer, producer, engineer, and musician. Early life Mokran was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up, he studied classical guitar, while also learning engineering and programming as a teen.Paul Tingen“ ...

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph (band), Triumph. Since 1978, Metalworks Studios has expanded into a six studio facility ...

and Euro-Syndicate Productions at Gallery Studios in New York. The album was preceded by the singles "America" and "Some Kinda Wonderful" and included contributions from such musicians as

Wah-Wah Watson Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as Wah Wah Watson, was an American guitarist who was a member of the Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records. He also worked extensively as a session musician ...

, Michael Thompson, and

Neil Stubenhaus Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. In one of his early bands, The Neighbourhood in 1969, he played with future Kiss guitarist Vinnie V ...

. Three more singles were issued from the album: "

Love Song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

", "Push", and "All I Want". In February, Sky signed a new record deal with Arista for the US, UK, and Japan. The album was re-released later that year, with two tracks being replaced. Sky also opened for

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the "Princess of Pop", she has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. Cultural impact of Brit ...

on the Canadian leg of her ...Baby One More Time Tour, in July. In 2000, Renald announced his departure from the band, and he did not attend that year's Juno Awards, where Sky won the Best New Group award.

Second iteration

Renald was replaced by Anastasia Friedman, and together with Sicotte as the new version of Sky, they released their first single, "Superhero", in August 2000. It was followed in November by the studio album ''Travelling Infinity''. The second single from the record was "You".

Third iteration

In 2003, the third and last incarnation of Sky came about, with Friedman being replaced by

. Under Sextant Records, the group released a third album, ''Picture Perfect'', which spawned the singles "Dedication" and "Crazy". The band split up in 2005.

After Sky

After leaving Sky, James Renald continued his songwriting and production career in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he resided until 2017. He notably wrote and produced the 2001

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh "Mandy" Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her 1999 debut single "Candy (Mandy Moore song), Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot ...

single " Cry". On 11 August 2018, at the age of 47, Renald died by suicide in Eastman, Quebec. Antoine Sicotte became a celebrity chef, author of cookbooks, as well as host of the television cooking show ''Le Cuisinier rebelle'', based on his 2009 cookbook of the same name. Karl Wolf went on to launch a solo career, and as of , he has released ten studio albums.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and recognition

* 2000: winner,

Juno Award for New Group of the Year The Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year is presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to the best new musical group in Canada. The award has been given annually since 1974, and was previously called Most Promising G ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Canadian pop music groups Canadian contemporary R&B musical groups English-language musical groups from Quebec Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Musical groups from Montreal 1997 establishments in Quebec 2005 disestablishments in Quebec