James Renald

Skyj
Background information
Origin	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Pop rock, Blue-eyed soul, R&B
Years active	1997-2005
Labels	Phat Royale (1997) EMI Music Canada (1998-2003) Sextant Records (2003-2005)
Members	Antoine Sicotte James Renald Anastasia Friedman Karl Wolf

Sky was a Canadian R&B-influenced Pop rock group from Montreal, Quebec. The duo originally consisted of James Renald and Antoine Sicotte. Both were songwriters, producers and multi-instrumentalists, who met in 1992 at a music engineering school in Montreal. Anastasia (2000–2003) replaced James as the lead singer after he left, and Karl Wolf (2003–2005) was the last lead singer of the group.

Their first EP was released on their own Phat Royale label in 1997. Managed by Lee Brown, both members co-wrote, co-produced and co-played every instrument on that record. Quebec radio stations began playing their music and eventually 43 stations in that province had added their songs to their playlists. Canada’s MusiquePlus, the French equivalent to English-language MuchMusic, began playing the video for their song "America".

In February 1998, Sky signed a major-label record deal with EMI Music Canada. With the recording sessions for their upcoming major-label debut, two world-famous producers, Peter Mokran (Maxwell, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson) and Euro-Syndicate Productions, were brought in for two recording sessions at Gallery Studios in New York and Metalworks Studios in Mississauga, Ontario. Legendary guitar player Wah-Wah Watson was featured as a guest performer as well.

Piece of Paradise, the duo’s major-label debut, was launched in 1999. The album debuted at number 6 on the Canadian album charts and reached platinum status in Canada. The group’s debut single, "Some Kinda Wonderful", was released in 1998, gained international success, hitting number 4 on the Canadian Singles Chartand and number 1 in Thailand.

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