He was not a shooting star, but he died very young: Karl Tremblay, the singer of the group Les Cowboys Fringants, died from prostate cancer which had plagued him for years. And our entire corner of America is mourning him.
“It is with indescribable sadness that we announce Karl’s departure. He was an exemplary warrior in the face of illness and a role model for us all. We want to thank everyone who has shown us their love over the past few years, we have been lifted up by your support,” wrote Marie-Annick, Jean-François and Jérôme on Instagram on Wednesday.
“The great Karl Tremblay of the Cowboys Fringants left us today. A man of integrity, generous, faithful. Thank you for respecting the privacy of family and loved ones,” also wrote La Tribu, a collaborator of the group for its records and shows for more than 20 years.
The illness that killed the singer was known and had caused concern for a long time. Karl Tremblay was diagnosed with prostate cancer just before the pandemic, in January 2020. He announced the news two years later, in the summer of 2022, when he began chemotherapy treatments. Which did not give the expected results.
His wife, Marie-Annick Lépine, also a member of the Cowboys Fringants and with whom he had two children, announced in March 2023 that the treatments were no longer working and that he would have to start another one shortly after.
In August of the same year, in the middle of a festival tour, she wrote that all that remained was “the hope that a treatment will work and can give time and a good quality of life to [s] we in love”.
Bad weather forced the cancellation of their show scheduled a few days earlier. On July 17, Karl Tremblay sang in front of approximately 90,000 people. Weakened by the treatments, he had to sit down when singing On my shoulder, which the crowd sang with him.
A few weeks later, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, the group had adapted. Rather than letting the singer sit alone, which highlighted his state of health, Marie-Annick Lépine, Jean-François Pauzé and Jérôme Dupras also sat down on a chair in the middle of the concert. A strong symbol of their solidarity in adversity, which Karl Tremblay nevertheless wanted to lighten. “You came to hear us sing, not to see us dance,” he told the crowd. Together, they were probably less afraid.
Karl Tremblay, very discreet on social networks, spoke at the end of September, when his group announced the cancellation of all their fall shows. “I decided to listen to you, to listen to myself, and to take a break,” he said, announcing that he wanted to concentrate on his treatments and getting back into shape. At the beginning of November, Louis-José Houde had the kindness to salute him in his opening number of the last ADISQ gala. “I dedicate this evening to Karl Tremblay of the Cowboys Fringants, who lifted 90,000 people to the end of his health on the Plains of Abraham last summer,” he said, emphasizing the spirit of “proud, dignified and festive” of the group.
Karl Tremblay was born on October 28, 1976. He became friends with Jean-François Pauzé at the age of 18, after meeting him on a hockey team – the Repentigny Jets, according to the official biography of the group. The tandem wrote their first song (Les routes du Bonheur) during the winter of 1995, that is to say a few months before the referendum failure which would be the backdrop for the group’s first years. Jean-François Pauzé mainly writes songs with ironic characters and anthems to raise the elbow, which Karl carries with chatter and good nature.
The Cowboys Fringants, completed by Marie-Annick Lépine (violin, mandolin, accordion, etc.), Jérôme Dupras (bass and antics) and Dominique Lebeau (left in 2007), did not waste time: between 1997 and 2000, the group released three low-budget albums (12 Great Songs, On My Couch, and Motel Capri). Its fame grew considerably at the turn of the millennium thanks to its participation in the Francouvertes competition and the support of COOL FM, a now defunct channel which made a point of playing artists that other radio stations shunned. .
Karl Tremblay has written a few rare texts over the years, but established himself from the start as the alter ego of Jean-François Pauzé. He was the man for the job to carry the silly songs from the beginning.
The singer cultivated his debonair image for a long time. In December 2002, as Les Cowboys Fringants prepared to conclude an unusual “Montreal tour,” Karl Tremblay had a “theory” (he had one on everything at that time) to explain the group’s success. “People identify with us and sing the lyrics of our songs because they all say that the group would work better if they were in my place,” he explained to La Presse. They think they all have a better voice than me. »
It was only years later, from The Expedition, that he began to assume the maturity he had acquired as a performer. “It’s true that my voice is softer, to respect the nature of the songs,” he admitted, in the fall of 2008. And then, after 12 years of touring, it would be sad if it didn’t take a step forward. more ! » He added that on The Expedition, it was Karl who sang, while on the wacky tunes of the album On an air of deja vu, released at the same time, it was “the cellar” who sang.
The duality that the singer evoked, he did not hesitate to embody it. A great crowd leader, adept at self-deprecation, he knew how to tease his audience, make them dance and jump. He also knew how to move her. Behind his stage persona, we quickly guessed the man with a big heart. It was necessary to find the right tone on Toune d’Automne, the group’s first big success, whose text balances between tenderness, confession and gentle mockery. It will take even more finesse to carry pieces like On my shoulder and America is crying, which the whole of Quebec has adopted.
In recent months, due to the singer’s state of health and the treatment schedule he had to follow, Les Cowboys Fringants had to cancel a few shows. And when the group took the stage, it was impossible to ignore the many songs, even old ones, where Jean-François Pauzé spoke of the lurking death and the need to enjoy life, even if it is not always easy.
These texts took on a new resonance due to the singer’s illness, who nevertheless carried them with apparent serenity and, as everyone who saw him on stage knows, great courage. With an air of defiance, too, as if singing that he “clings on with his feet here below” despite death “which sooner or later will take us down” was a way of taunting destiny. The Cowboys have matured over the decades, but they’ve never stopped being a little sloppy. It’s in their DNA and it’s always been a good reason to love them.
With the disappearance of Karl Tremblay, the future of the Cowboys Fringants is more than uncertain. Which will add to the mourning of thousands of Quebecers who, in addition to losing an artist in whom they recognized themselves and to whom they have never ceased to show their affection, are likely to also lose the group that has accompanied them for more than 25 years. .
The void will not be possible to fill: no other artist or group from here has been able to tell the aspirations and disappointments of today’s Quebec like Les Cowboys Fringants. Nor find such a touching balance between the political and the comic, between theater and authenticity, between disenchantment and the hope that life has meaning. Or that love gives him one.
