Ronnie Prophet

Ronald Lawrence Victor Prophet, singer, guitarist, comedian (born 26 December 1937 in Hawkesbury, ON; died 2 March 2018). A second cousin of Orval Prophet, he was raised in Calumet, Que, and made his debut at 15 in Ottawa on CFRA's country music show 'The Happy Wanderers'. At 17 he moved to Montreal, where he sang at various nightclubs until 1964. He then based his career in the USA, 1964-9 in Fort Lauderdale and thereafter in Nashville. There he has operated a nightclub, Ronnie Prophet's Carousel Club, for many years.

He has continued to tour widely in Canada, and has been host for a succession of country music series on Canadian TV, including CBC's 'Country Roads' (summer 1973) and 'The Ronnie Prophet Show' (summer 1974), CTV's 'Grand Old Country' (1975-80), and two syndicated series, 'Rocky Mountain Inn' (from CFAC Calgary in the mid-1980s) and 'Ronnie 'n the Browns' (from CJOH Ottawa, 1990-91). Some of his early recordings for RCA were popular in the USA as well as Canada: 'Sanctuary' (1975) and 'Shine On' and 'Its Enough' (1976). Several other songs have been Canadian hits, including 'Big Big World' (1976) and 'Phone Call from Allyson' (1977) for RCA, 'Phantom of the Opry' (1980) for Cachet, 'Every Story in the Book' (1981), 'The Ex-Superstar's Waltz' (1982), and 'I Need a Lover' (1983) for Vera Cruz, and 'Stealer of Hearts' (1986), 'No Holiday in L.A'. (1987), and 'If You're up for Love' (1987) again for RCA.

Several of his duets with Glory-Anne Carriere, whom he married in 1986, have also been popular - eg, 'If This Is Love' (1984) and 'I'm Glad We're Bad at Something' (1985) for his own Prophet label. He has had LPs released by RCA, Cachet, Vera Cruz, Audiograph, Prophet, and, with Glory-Anne, Book Shop. Among them, Just for You (Tee Vee TA-2004) sold more than 50,000 copies in Canada in the late 1970s. Prophet received Juno Awards as country male vocalist in 1978 and 1979, Big Country Awards for 'outstanding performance, country male singer' in 1976 and 1980, and the CCMA award as entertainer of the year in 1984. 'Grand Old Country' received the Big Country Award as top Canadian country TV show in 1976, 1977 and 1979.

Prophet is known for his one-man shows, which combine song, comedy, impersonations and his considerable skill as a guitarist. His quick wit has brought him work as a compere at festivals (eg, the Wembley Festival of Country Music in England) and for CCMA awards ceremonies. He has also performed on BBC TV and on tour in Great Britain and Europe.

Glory-Anne Carriere (b Gravelbourg, Sask, 1947) has had hits for the Royalty label (eg, 'Rocky Road,' 'Woman Alone,' 'Kelly Green,' and 'In My Dreams,' 1977-80), E & R ('Sugartime,' 1982), and RCA ('Small Talk,' 1987). She won the Big Country award for 'outstanding performance, country female singer' in 1978 and 1980.