Nini Nobless of Canadian Hi-NRG duo Lime dies, aged 74

Nini Nobless, co-founder of Canadian Hi-NRG group Lime, has died at the age of 74.

Nobless passed away after a battle with cancer on 21st August, according to a friend who announced news of her death on Facebook last week. ‘I have never known anyone so brilliant’, Jeff Plante wrote. ‘Every time she puts her hands on a keyboard. Improvised, she generated an ear worm. I will never see this again in my life, and I am privileged to have shared these very rare moments with her’. CBC confirmed the news of Nobless’ passing through her former manager Yvon Lafrance. 

Nobless’ daughter Claudine LePage also confirmed her death to La Presse, saying they reconnected after a 15-year-long estrangement. “It was the nurse who called me to tell me that she was going to enter palliative care”, she said, adding that her final moments were then “serene… because of the times we spent together”. 

Nobless’s music career began in the 1960s with the band The Persuaders, followed by jazz fusion duo Le Pouls. That was her first project with then-wife Denyse LePage when she was known as Denis LePage before transitioning in the 2000s. In 1979, she had her first hit record, ‘The Break’, released under the artist name Kat Mandu.

In 1981, the LePages debuted their new disco act Lime with the ‘Your Love’ album, the title track of which became a Billboard chart-topper. Their other best-known tracks include ‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’, ‘Angel Eyes’ and ‘Babe We’re Gonna Love Tonight’. Lime released music steadily through the early ’90s, winding down with two final LPs in 1998 and 2002. 

Nobless is also credited with writing the 1980 hit ‘Dancin’ the Night Away’ for Canadian dance duo Voggue. As a solo artist, Nobless continued to release electro-pop solo singles in the aughts and 2010s.