“It depends on where I am in my life. At the moment, I’m more interested in solo projects. I always pick up a group project every three or four years or so. There’s always something that excites me enough to go for it. Collective things always happen to me through the group that I wouldn’t have expected. For example, I landed a role in a TV series [Distinct Society]. Since it’s new, I was excited by the idea of going into acting.
What makes me the most memorable for people, in the French-speaking and Francophile world, is Notre Dame de Paris, that’s clear. It made me known everywhere outside of Quebec. Here, I was already known, I had my album Miserere and it was going well, but Notre Dame de Paris still added a layer. It is not for nothing that I am celebrating the 20th anniversary of my concert with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the 25th anniversary of my album Miserere from February: these are my two albums and my two most significant tours in Quebec .
The singing teacher who helped me position my voice when I was injured at the turn of the 90s – Cécile Vallée Jalbert – immediately recognized that if we worked adequately, I could become an opera singer. I didn’t want to. I came from the bar world and I wanted to continue singing pop and rock. I still had fun playing musicals and covering certain great Puccini arias or other lyrical arias, but I never thought about making a complete switch. You don’t become an opera singer like that. I can pretend in a show for fun, but making a career out of it didn’t appeal to me enough to go there.
Um, yes, no… (laughs) There’s nothing on the table, but it’s not banned from the equation. I think it has to come from him more than me. I don’t want to impose anything on him. Already, he has had to live with his father’s fame since he was very young. With the children of famous people, this is not always easy, especially if they have a talent similar to that of one of their parents. I admit that I found my son courageous, because he had always refused. I was sure he wouldn’t be there. Not only did he come to play guitar – he excels in metal – but he came to sing: I couldn’t believe it!
When I have to perform, especially on tour, I’m quite zealous and I don’t talk much in a day. I’ve always been sporty enough to maintain good cardio for the stage, I do my vocal exercises. A glass of wine from time to time, if I’m not performing. It’s a lifestyle that’s a bit… flat. Last summer, in 2022, for my 60th birthday, I took on the challenge of redoing Notre Dame de Paris for around thirty dates. I spent the summer not leaving my hotel room or only going to read in a park so as not to talk to anyone. Shower at 4 p.m. to vocalize in the humidity and be in makeup at 6 p.m. That’s how I managed to get through. At the age I am, I have to be even more rigorous and disciplined. I’m 61 and people still think I’m 35 voice-wise and want to hear the same thing. What makes me succeed is this ultra-rigor.
Russia, Eastern Europe, Asia and all over the world, it is thanks to Notre Dame de Paris. Afterwards, local producers from various countries who invited us [me and other singers] to come and present our solo material. This is how from 2009 to 2022, I sang in Russia. Out of respect for the fans, I learn a few words in their language and I sing three or four songs from Notre Dame de Paris. It’s amazing to see the differences. There is a song that Catherine Major and Frédérick Baron gave me, Après moi le déluge, which was a hit in Russia, although I don’t play it here.
