La Bolduc
Mary Rose Anna Bolduc, nee Travers, (
1897 –
1941) was a
Quebecois singer best known as
La Bolduc. Born in the
Gaspé, she moved with her family to
Montreal in 1907. In 1914 she married Édouard Bolduc. A self-taught musician, she began her professional career in 1927, quickly becoming
Quebec's most popular singer; she was the first Quebec woman to make a living as a singer. She wrote over 300
songs inspired by the Quebecois and
Irish folk traditions. Some of her songs, which tended to deal with the everyday concerns of ordinary people, were considered so racy that radio stations would not play them.
She is better known in English Canada as Madame Bolduc.
About 100 of her songs survive (many which did not survive were written for special occasions). Perhaps the best known today is "Si Vous Avez une Fille qui Veut se Marier".