Reno was born Ginette Raynault in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, she began singing in 1960 and won the talent contest "Les Découvertes de Jean Simon" (Jean Simon's Discoveries).

Simon suggested she adopt the stage name Reno—a phonetic spelling of her real last name (as pronounced in Canadian French).

[8] The song was re-released on the French record label Melon-Miel on a two disc compilation Vocally Yours Vol.

[9] Among her recordings is a Lynsey de Paul song "Dans la vie tout s'arrange" (Storm in a Teacup) with French lyrics provided by Marcel Stellman.

In March 2019, she was one of 11 singers from Quebec, alongside Céline Dion, Diane Dufresne, Isabelle Boulay, Luce Dufault, Louise Forestier, Laurence Jalbert, Catherine Major, Ariane Moffatt, Marie Denise Pelletier and Marie-Élaine Thibert, who participated in a supergroup recording of Renée Claude's 1971 single "Tu trouveras la paix" after Claude's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease was announced.

She played the role of Maria Barberini in the 2003 Canadian independent film Mambo Italiano.

[13] In 2022, Ginette Reno came back to the big screen after 16 years in Martin Villeneuve's The 12 Tasks of Imelda (Les 12 travaux d'Imelda), co-starring playwright Robert Lepage, in which she plays Martin and Denis Villeneuve's maternal grandmother Simone, Imelda's lifelong adversary.

[16] As Reno has a very matronly and respectable image in Quebec, her willingness to pose smiling next to Boucher, a man convicted of rape amongst other things, caused some controversy.

[23] The Canada Gazette announced on 30 April 2011 that Mme Reno was appointed as a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the President of the French Republic.