Bonnie St. Claire (born Bonje Cornelia Swart, 18 November 1949) is a Dutch singer and actress who has a recording history that began in the 1960s and went through to the 1990s.
St. Claire was born as Bonje Cornelia Swart in Rozenburg on 18 November 1949. She was born on a boat and is the daughter of a barge skipper. Her career began in 1966 when at a Peter Koelewijn concert, she was invited to come up on stage and sing with him.
In 1967 she released her first single Tame Me, Tiger. Numerous other records in Dutch, German and English followed. Some of the best known titles in Germany are Kai-Uwe Schmidt, Ich weiß, dass ich kein Engel bin, In der Wuppertaler Schwebebahn and Viele Köche verpoer den Breihe. In 1970 she covered with Smoking in the Forest is Forbidden a hit by Nina Lizell. In 1972 Bonnie St. Claire joined the group Unit Gloria, with whom she had some successes, including the title Clap Your Hands (and Stamp Your Feet), which reached number 3 in the Dutch charts in December 1972.
In 1979, she was part of a trio called Bonnie, Debbie & Rosy who released a single called "Oh Boy" which was written and produced by Peter Koelewijn. In addition to herself, the trio included Debbie aka Ria Schildmeyer, and Rosy Pereira. She had a string of hits in the Netherlands, including Dokter Bernhard (1976), Pierrot (1980), Bonnie kom je buiten spelen (1980) and Vlieg nooit te hoog (1981). She also scored a hit with a translation of the Bette Midler song The Rose (song), translates as De Roos (1980) . Later St. Claire would join José Hoebee as part of the duo Bonnie & José and would have a degree of success in the Netherlands. The two singers were under the same management and they soon became friends and started socializing with each other. In 1984 they enjoyed a top 40 hit with "Cassandra" which had previously been recorded by ABBA. They also recorded an album of Abba songs which was approved by Björn Ulvaeus.
In 2010, St. Claire and Gerard Joling had a hit in the Netherlands with "Morgen Wordt Alles Anders" as Bonnie & Gerard. The song peaked at no. 2 and spent nine weeks in the charts.
