Born in Montreal on April 28, 1946.

Ginette Reno began her career at an early age, singing in Montreal night clubs in the early 1960s. After winning the Les Découvertes de Jean Simon talent contest, Jean Simon offered to guide her through the world of cabaret and music hall. She got her first professional contract at the Café de l’Est, and at age 18 was named new talent of the year at the Gala des artistes du Québec. Her career expanded to include shows in England, the United States and France. She has performed at all major venues in Quebec including Place des Arts, in addition to recording several albums in the 1960s and 1970s.

A renowned and popular singer, she made a big impression in 1975 when she sang the Jean-Pierre Ferland song Un peu plus loin before a crowd of 250, 000 people gathered on Mount Royal for the Fête nationale celebrations. Some 33 years later she performed the same song in a duet with Céline Dion to a huge crowd on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City on August 23, 2008.

She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1981, and was on three occasions named best Canadian singer at the Juno Awards (1969, 1971 and 1972). In 1980 she received three Félix awards – female singer of the year, most popular show and best-selling album of the year (selling 350,000 copies of Je ne suis qu'une chanson). In 2004 she was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec.

She embarked on a film career in the early 1990s, performing in the Jean-Claude Lauzon film Léolo and playing the lead role in two films directed by Denise Filiatrault (based on a novel by Michel Tremblay).

After a few years out of the limelight, Ginette Reno launched a new record (Fais-moi la tendresse). It was a gold selling album five days after its release, and then platinum, and led to a tour that included a 44-night run at Salle Pierre-Mercure in Montreal. In spring 2011 she released a new disc entitled La musique en moi.