Patrick Bruel is always on the move. Passing through Quebec, where he gave two shows, he is preparing those he will present at Christmas with Mario Pelchat. The artist also tells us about his rosé wine Leos cuvée Augusta, which he has just launched here, and his recent album Encore une fois.
Patrick Bruel has several passions. There is the one for soccer from a very young age, but also the one for wine. And it is for this reason that he acquired an estate in Provence, in the south of France, which he called Leos (for Léon and Oscar, his two sons. There he developed an olive oil of high quality, cosmetic products, honey, lavender, and this rosé Leos cuvée Augusta 2022, in homage to his mother.
“This is the first step in a great story. We are going to release the white wine and the red later, he explains. This rosé arrived because there were a lot of grapes. So we teamed up with Nicolas Jaboulet, who is a very big name in the Rhône, and together we made a rosé that prances at the head of the competitions. We have just had a 91 out of 100 on Decanter [the British magazine of world reference] and we have just won the prize for rosé wine of the year in Quebec elected by the Bacchus network. What pride! »
It’s been a busy year for Patrick Bruel, who released his 10th studio album, Again, a few months ago. “My best album,” he says. A disc where he alternates between more intimate songs and current topics, such as climate change and withdrawal.
“In On en parle, to the hip-hop rhythm, it’s a very societal song where it’s about this frenzied individualism, the growing wealth gap and the fact that we can no longer afford to act as if nothing is wrong. was not. We will be accountable to our children and we will not be able to say that we did not know, ”explains the singer-songwriter. He also evokes L’instit, a song about the teaching profession, which is fundamental. “He or she is the one who gives our children the first keys to entering society, who learns, who gives a taste for reading, a taste for free will, expression, freedom. And at the same time, it’s a nod to my mother who did this job,” he says.
There was also, this year, his return to Algeria in February, the country where he was born and which he left at the age of 3 without ever returning.
“With my mother, we went there hand in hand, in search of her memories and me, in search of those that I did not have, it was overwhelming, beautiful, tender, deep. We went to the school where she taught, to the house where I was born, then to Oran, my father’s city, and Algiers to end this emotional journey. »
The passage of time is a subject that Patrick Bruel talks about and which is a difficult observation to make. “It’s not a concern, because there’s nothing we can do about it, but sometimes I think about not being able to be there long enough to see all that my children will do and become. “Precisely, one of his sons, Léon Hesby, who changed his name, plays a role in the film The promises, by Amanda Sthers (his mother), and launches into the song with 1, 2, 3, a first single, a delicate subject for Patrick Bruel.
Even if we feel very proud, he does not want to talk about his son’s music for him. “You will interview him!” he says. “Léon writes, composes, produces, directs. He does his own thing, he drives his boat. That’s all I can tell you and it’s up to him to talk about his work. Through me, he knows one thing: the importance of work, rigor and perseverance. »
On the actor side, we will see Patrick Bruel in a series in 2024. “That’s why I have short hair, it’s for a series of Franco-Israeli espionage on one of the most secret units of the Mossad. I’m going to shoot in August, “says the one who loves watching series like Succession, Silo and The game of the lady. “It’s very time consuming. When I start, it’s hard to stop! »
It will be a new experience for the singer, that of participating in a show of Christmas songs, he who remembers that he dressed up as Santa Claus for his children when they were little. Parapapam will bring together at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Patrick Bruel, Mario Pelchat and Vladimir Kornéev, with 100 musicians and singers. “I have listened to many Christmas songs and there are very beautiful ones, Petit Papa Noël, Petit Garçon, Happy Xmas (War is Over). It gives me an excuse to come back to Quebec in the winter! »
