Alys Robi

Alice Robitaille (February 3, 1923 – May 28, 2011), known professionally as Alys Robi, was a Canadian singer from Quebec, mainly remembered for her later French interpretations of Latin American songs.

Youth Born in 1923 in the Quebec City neighbourhood of Saint-Sauveur, Robitaille displayed talent for singing and acting at a very young age. She first performed on-stage at the Capitol Theatre at 7. At the time, she had already sung on-air with the CHRC radio station and was a real phenomenon in the whole city.

Career

At 13 she moved to the Théâtre National, on Montreal's Saint Catherine Street. She sang in chic New York City cabarets by the mid forties and in 1947, she travelled to England where she made an appearance on the first regular BBC television programme.

Mental health In 1948, while traveling by car to Hollywood, she was injured in an accident, and entered a period of depression. After a series of unfortunate diagnoses, and a failed romance, she suffered a mental breakdown and was interned for several years in a Quebec City asylum. She credited the operation with her recovery:

"Je me réveillai guérie et j'ai compris plus tard que j'avais été un des rares cas réussis de lobotomie" (I woke up better and later understood that I was one of the rare lobotomy success stories). In 1952, she was released. The same year, she came back on stage at the Casa Loma and the Montmartre, but her efforts were impeded by taboos about mental problems and she never regained the same level of popularity.

Later years In the early 1990s, Alys returned into the public eye after the massive success she had with a song written for her by Alain Morisod ("Laissez-moi encore chanter"). Books, theses, plays and television series were written about her. A film was released in December 2004: Alys Robi: Ma vie en cinémascope (litterally "Alys Robi: My Life in Cinemascope"), titled Bittersweet Memories in English.

Robitaille has published two autobiographies: Ma carrière, ma vie ("My Career, My Life", 1980) and Un long cri dans la nuit: Cinq Années à l'Asile ("A Long Cry in the Night: Five Years in the Asylum", 1990). The last autobiography title comes from the song Un long cri dans la nuit, written and composed for Lady Alys by the songwriter Christine Charbonneau in 1989.

Several of Robi's songs have been used for commercial ads. Sico, notably, played on the similarity between its brand name and the title of "Tico Tico" to produce a very catchy campaign based on a spoof of the song.

On September 19, 2008 Alice performed 3 songs for the Desjardins Caisse populaire du Centre-ville de Quebec for their annual general meeting to great acclaim with an audience that knew her well in her hometown.

Robitaille died in the Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montreal, at the age of 88, on May 28, 2011.

Discography Diva (2005) (recorded in 1946 at the CBC) Laissez-moi encore chanter (1989)

Compilations Alys Robi, Collection QIM (2005) Alys Robi, l'anthologie (2004) La Collection – volume 1 & 2 (1995) La Collection – volume 1 (1995) Les Succès d'Alys Robi (1962, 1995)