Bruins Anthem Singer Rene Rancourt May Retire Next Year

Photo by Dan4th Nicholas on Flickr/Creative Commons

Bruins anthem singer Rene Rancourt, a Garden fixture beloved by fans of the Black and Golden, says next season may be his last.

Rancourt was the subject of a recent VICE Sports profile looking back on his four decades crooning the Star-Spangled Banner before the Garden faithful. Originally an opera singer, Rancourt developed his now signature fist-pumps as an homage to former Bruin Randy “Stump” Burridge’s “Stump pump” celebration.

Rancourt told VICE Sports the retirement discussion is one he has often, either with his wife or himself. “Maybe next year,” he said, but didn’t give any concrete details. A representative for the Bruins told VICE Sports the team had not heard any plans for next season from him.

Rancourt, 76, has never had a contract with the Bruins, and instead shows up and sings unless told otherwise. He’s represented by Curtis Knight, a wedding entertainment mogul based in Billerica. Knight and Rancourt first worked together after one of Knight’s clients requested a Garden-grade anthem at their reception.

“They said, ‘There’s only one more thing. If you can provide Rene Rancourt…’ And I hadn’t heard of him in 25-30 years. I said, ‘Rene Rancourt? The guy who sings for the Bruins?’ And she goes, ‘Yeah, we want him to sing at our wedding,'” Knight told the Lowell Sun in 2014. “I said I didn’t even know if he was still alive. She said if we could get him, she’d go with us. I went on Google, searched ‘Rene Rancourt’ and there’s his home number and cell number.”

You can read VICE Sports’ profile of Rancourt here.