I came to post Golden Earring, but “Twilight Zone”.
More generally, not necessarily; in Celine Dion’s case, not before age 20:
Per Wiki: Two years after she learned English, Dion made her debut into the Anglophone market with Unison (1990).
She was born in 1968, so she learned English at age 20.
Me too.
Ozzy Osbourne sounds great when he singing but unintelligible when he’s speaking in inter-- Oh! You mean he just sounds like that when he’s drunk? :smack:
–G!
Well, they call me the breeze!
I just keep movin’ on!
…–Ronnie van Zandt (Lynrd Skynrd)
…Call me the Breeze [Written by JJ Cale]
…Second Helping
I was specifically going to mention “500 Miles” by the Redeemers.
(Now, where’s the tartan smiley? :mad: )
Approximately 75% of Quebecers are francophone. Of those, approximately one third are bilingual; the rest are monolingual French speakers.
And even then, that doesn’t mean English is their first language. Someone like Dionne, who apparently learnt English starting at age 20, is not singing in her native language when she sings in English, just like ABBA.
An honorable mention must go here to Prisencolinensinainciusol
Nightwish. It can be an amusing pastime to note when their former lead singer Tarja Turunen would mispronounce certain letters. Behold the Elvenbath!
This was my first thought.
Age 20? Meaning she was out of K - 12 schooling. Don’t the schools in Quebec teach English as a second language like schools in Europe? Seems many Continental Europeans speak English quite well. Are Quebecers that anti English?
Astrud Gilberto.
Anything from Guitar Wolf, the 5.6.7.8s, Teengenerate or Thee Michelle Gun Elephant.
Dunno if this would count, but the song “Que Sera Sera” from the OST for the video game “Katamari Damacy.” Pretty sure English isn’t the singer’s native tongue.
AIUI, the language they speak in Quebec is about as similar to the language spoken in France as Portuguese is to Italian.
No, that’s not the case at all. There are Quebec accents, but standard Quebec French compared to French French is much like standard North American English, compared to British English. In high school and university, we used Quebec French and French French texts and learning aids interchangeably.
No more than the other provinces are anti French. It’s avaiable, but not mandatory, and few kids leave school fully bilingual, in my experience.
For example, in my school in Saskatchewan, there were only three years of French required, and most kids dropped it as a subject as soon as they hit Grade 10, when it became optional. If you’re interested in learning the other language, whether French or English depending on your location, you can do it, but it’s not required.
Sounds to me like Dionne got serious about learning English as she started her singing career. Having English would be a clear advantage to a professional singer in North America.
I rather liked that song Who Can It Be Now. Not sure what those guys native language was.
Keren Ann - Not Going Anywhere
Men at Work? They’re Aussie.
Amen!