Sky (Canadian band)
Sky was a Canadian R&B-influenced pop rock duo from Montreal. It originally consisted of James Renald (1971–2018) and Antoine Sicotte, son of actor Gilbert Sicotte. Both were songwriters, producers, and multi-instrumentalists. Anastasia Friedman replaced Renald as lead singer after he left, and Karl Wolf was the group's last vocalist.
Sky | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Montreal, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1997–2005 |
| Labels |
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| Past members |
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History
First iteration
Formed in 1997, Sky released their first studio album, Piece of Paradise, in 1999. It was preceded by the singles "America" and "Some Kinda Wonderful", and included contributions from such musicians as Wah-Wah Watson, Michael Thompson, Neil Stubenhaus, and Peter Mokran.[1] Three more singles were issued from the album: "Love Song", "Push", and "All I Want".
The album was re-released through Arista later that year and included two extra tracks. In 2000, Renald announced his departure from the band, and he didn't attend that year's Juno Awards, where Sky won the Best New Group award.[2]
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, as Anastasia was replaced by Karl Wolf. The group released a third album, Picture Perfect, which spawned the singles "Dedication" and "Crazy". Sky split up in 2005.
After Sky
After leaving Sky, James Renald continued his songwriting and production career in Los Angeles, where he resided until 2017. He notably wrote and produced the 2001 Mandy Moore single "Cry". On 11 August 2018, at the age of 47, Renald committed suicide in Eastman, Quebec.[3]
Antoine Sicotte became a celebrity chef, author of cookbooks,[4] 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 2023, he has released ten studio albums.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Certifications |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | |||
| 1999 | Piece of Paradise | 6 | |
| 2000 | Travelling Infinity | — | |
| 2003 | Picture Perfect | — | |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | CAN AC | US Pop | ||||
| 1997 | "America" | — | — | — | Piece of Paradise | |
| 1998 | "Some Kinda Wonderful" | 4 | 16 | — | ||
| 1999 | "Love Song" | 1 | 1 | 38 | ||
| "Push" | 11 | 11 | — | |||
| "All I Want" | 31 | 4 | — | |||
| 2000 | "Superhero" | — | * | — | Travelling Infinity | |
| 2001 | "You" | 1 | * | — | ||
| 2003 | "Dedication" | — | * | — | Picture Perfect | |
| "Crazy" | — | * | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart * denotes unknown peak positions | ||||||
Awards and recognition
- 2000: winner, Juno Award for New Group of the Year
References
- "Sky – Piece of Paradise". discogs.com. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- Larry LeBlanc (12 February 2000). "Morissette leads Canada's Juno nomination list". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 45. ISSN 0006-2510.
- Friend, David (10 April 2019). "James Renald, of Montreal duo Sky, remembered for writing lyrical pop hits". The Globe and Mail/ The Canadian Press. The Canadian Press.
- "Antoine Sicotte". amazon.ca. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- "Sky certifications". Music Canada. 1 December 2011. Retrieved 1 December 2011.