Norman (Norm) Marshall Villeneuve was born in Montreal, Quebec, on May 29, 1938. His mother is Adeline Villeneuve. From age 7, he was raised by foster parents, Alonso and Josephine Griffith, in the Little Burgundy area of St. Henri in Montreal. He is married to Louise Artibello-Villeneuve.
Norman Marshall Villeneuve first learned tap dance from his foster brother Charles. He began his career as a tap dancer and singer at age 8. At the same time, he began to teach himself how to play drums, and received piano lessons from Daisy Peterson-Sweeney at the Negro Community Centre. By age 14 he was a professional drummer. He has had a successful career as a musician for more than six decades. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he worked at Montreal clubs, including Rockhead’s Paradise, Chez Paris, the Black Bottom and Café la Bohème. From 1965 to 1968, he toured as a drummer with his cousin Oliver Jones throughout North and South America. In 1974, Norman Marshall Villeneuve moved from Montreal to Toronto, where he played in several jazz clubs, including Bourbon Street, The Senator, The Pilot and The Rex. Under his banner “Norman Marshall Villeneuve’s Jazz Message”, Villeneuve has mentored many young jazz musicians and has provided emerging musicians with the opportunity to perform. He relocated to Montreal in 2013.