Achi news desk-
Quebec star singer and cultural icon Jean-Pierre Perland died on Saturday at the age of 89.
The man who made his mark on Quebec with the song “Une chance qu’on s’a” has died of natural causes, according to his agency. He was admitted on February 14 at CHSLD Desy, in Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon, in the Lanaudière region.
Born in Montreal on June 24, 1934 – a date that made him an iconic figure of Quebec culture – Perland gave his “last concert” at the Bell Center on January 13, 2007, officially ending his 42-year career. But he didn’t disappear from the stage, not by a long shot.
He then participated – with Celine Dion and Jeanette Reno, among others – in a concert on the Plains of Abraham in 2008 to mark the 400th anniversary of Quebec City, and in a tribute to him at the Théâtre Saint-Denis in April 2009, organized by the radio station Rythme FM.
In September 2009, Perland also released an album of duets and trios called “Bijoux de famille”, in addition to collaborating with Gilles Vigneault and writing a new song for Celine Dion. Another live album comes in 2011: “Les Noces d’or de jaune”.
On August 14, 2010, he flew to the rescue of the small church in his adopted village of Saint-Norbert, which was threatened with closure despite being recognized as a landmark by the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. Pearland and Reno performed at a concert attended by 3,000 people, and the fate of the church changed.
He participated in three festivals in 2011 – the Festival Franco-Ontarian d’Ottawa, the FrancoFolies de Montréal and the Festival d’été de Québec – then in the special “Céline Dion… sans attendre” in 2012, which attracted 2.4 million viewers. In 2013, he appeared on TVA’s “La Voix”.
The prolific singer-songwriter’s discography numbers about 30 albums, including “Jaune,” his 1970 masterpiece, which became, in a sense, Quebec’s “Sergeant Peppers.” About 60,000 copies were sold in just one year.
His career has received many honors, including the Grand Prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros in France, twice, in 1968 and 1977, the best singer-songwriter award at the 1965 Festival du disque de Montréal, and the best singer-prize The songwriter at the Gala des Artistes in 1972.
Most recently, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1996 and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 2003. In January 2007, he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
From HEC to ‘Jaune’
Before becoming an artist, Perland studied at the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and was hired as an accountant at Radio-Canada in 1956. Encouraged by fellow students in public broadcasting, he recorded his first songs in 1958, and came to public attention three years later with his second album and the titles “Les Immortelles” and “Ton visage”.
In 1962 “Feuilles de gui” won the “Chansons sur mesure” competition organized by Radio Canada, as well as the grand prize at the International Gala de la Chanson in Brussels. A year later, he represented Canada in Sopot, Poland, at the 3rd International Concours de la Chanson, winning the award for best performance in Krakow.
It was also during the 1960s that he began to make a name for himself in Paris. In 1962 he sang in the cabaret “La Tête de l’art”, and in 1966 he moved to the City of Light for a month. He made a triumphant return to Quebec in 1968, with his hit “Je reviens chez nous”, written in a Paris hotel (while suffering from homesickness). Two years later, in 1970, he sang with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at the Osaka International Exhibition.
Returning to Quebec just as “L’Ostid’show” was revolutionizing the music scene, Perland realized he needed to renew his repertoire. He shut himself up in Morin-Heights with a group of great musicians to produce a legendary album: “Jaune”
If the 70s marked the launch of “Jaune”, also during this period he gave huge concerts at the Place des Arts, and recorded “T’s mon amour, t’es maîtresse” with Ginette Reno. He also appeared in the 1976 St. John’s Day celebrations, with Claude Leville, Gilles Vigneault, Robert Charlebois and Yvonne Deschamps.
Pearland also used the 1970s to make his first forays into film and television. In 1976, he appeared as an actor, screenwriter and musician in Jacques Vallée’s Chanson pour Julie, before recording four programs of Faut voir ça for Radio-Canada in 1978 – he had already hosted Jeunesse oblige on SRC television in – SRC. The beginning of the 60s. He continued in this spirit in the 1980s, hosting various programs: “Station soleil” (Radio-Québec, 1981-1987), “L’Autobus du showbusiness” (SRC, 1987), “Ferland/Nadeau” (Télé-Métropole, 1990).
In 1992 he released his first album in eight years, “Bleu blanc blues”. Encouraged by his reception, he returned in 1995 with “Écoute pas ça” (including “Une chance qu’on s’a”) and in 1999 with “L’Amour c’est d’l’ouvrage”. This comeback allowed him to reconnect with his public, but also to be discovered by younger people.
short retirement
At the beginning of 2005, Ferland launched his latest tour, “Trois fois Ferland”, which took him to every corner of Quebec. After about 150 shows, he suffered a stroke on October 12, 2006, the day before the last show of this tour and of his career, the following day at the Bell Center. This “farewell show” finally took place on January 13, 2007.
But the artist does not retire. He continued to appear on stage from time to time, and even coached the popular TV show “La Voix” in 2013.
In 2021, after a difficult period during the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched a new album, “Je n’veux pas dormir ce soir”, in which he sang his work with other artists, including Florence K, Linda Lamay and Gilles Vigneault. .
“I left this profession, I quit, I made a farewell plan. Then, it didn’t last long,” he admitted with a smile to Radio-Canada host Patrice Roy in a May 2021 interview.
“I was ashamed, but I came back, and as quickly as possible. It’s the most beautiful profession in the world, because it surprises the person who does it and invents it the most.”
Perland is survived by his wife, Julie Anne Saumur, his children, Julie and Bruno, his grandchildren Edouard, Charlotte, Loic and Jean-Félix, and his great-granddaughter, Livia.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 27, 2024.
