Jean-Pierre Ferland, “a great architect of Quebec song”, dies at 89

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Tributes have been pouring in since the death Saturday of celebrated Quebec lyricist, composer and singer Jean-Pierre Ferland. He was 89 years old.

The composer of “Une chance qu’on s’a” died of natural causes, the agency that represents him reported. He was admitted on February 14 to a long-term care hospital in St-Gabriel-de-Brandon, in the Lanaudière region of Quebec.

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Since the announcement of his death, the reaction on social media has been widespread. Something of that:

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau published on Saturday night on the X platform that “Jean-Pierre Ferland was a giant of French-speaking music. He wrote and sang songs that will always be part of Quebec culture. “We will miss him very much.”

Quebec Premier François Legault hailed Ferland as “a great architect of Quebec song… I listened to his album ‘Jaune’ over and over again. So many great hits: ‘Le petit roi’, ‘Je reviens chez nous’, ‘Une chance qu’on s’a’… composer of the unforgettable song ‘Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin’, performed by Ginette Reindeer on Mount Royal.”

Quebec Minister of Culture, Mathieu Lacombe., who on Saturday had attended the funeral of former liberal provincial minister Benoît Pelletier, wrote in X: “Great people are leaving us. (Ferland’s death) is such sad news…we will miss his songs, his words, his deeply personal style. My thoughts are with his family and those close to him. Thank you for everything, Mr. Ferland.”

Parti Québécois head Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said: “We have lost an artist who marked the spirit of several generations of Quebecers. His voice and his melodies will continue to resonate in our souls and in our heads… I offer my deepest condolences to all the people close to him and to the entire artistic world.”

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Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-spokesperson of Québec Solidaire: “Jean-Pierre Ferland made Quebec sing. ‘Jaune’ brought Quebec music into modernity. His legacy is enormous. On my behalf and on behalf of Québec solidaire, I express my deepest condolences to his family and all those close to him. Goodbye, Mr. Ferland.

Marc Tanguay, interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, greeted “a true giant, a legend of Quebec music.” He said Ferland’s “songs will be etched in our collective memory. Many of us will be humming them for years to come. Throughout a long career marked by success, it is worth mentioning his album ‘Jaune’, which came out in 1970 and is without a doubt… one of the best of all time.”

“There are very few giants of our songs and our soul,” he stated. The head of the Quebec bloc, Yves-François Blanchet in

Valérie Plante, mayor of Montreal He said Ferland’s “songs will long resonate in our homes. His memory will be forever honored at the Place des Fleurs-de-Macadam, on Mount Royal Ave.”

The plaza, a multifunctional space on Mount Royal Ave. E. between Boyer and Mentana streets. It is the former site of a gas station operated by Jean-Pierre Ferland’s father, Armand, and is named after one of his songs: its title translates as “flowers on asphalt.”

“The Quebec charmer is dead,” he said. Bruno Marchand, mayor of Quebec City, “His departure leaves a huge void in Quebec culture, but his vast legacy will comfort us in these sad moments. Thank you, Mr. Ferland.

Singer Celine Dion paid tribute to Ferland by saying that he “had a huge impact on the music industry” and sharing a video of the two performing ‘Une chance q’on s’a’.

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Singer, songwriter and actor Roch Voisine He said he was “extremely saddened to learn of the death of one of the giants of Francophone song, the incomparable Jean-Pierre Ferland… his album Jaune changed everything, as did the hundreds of songs he offered us afterwards. Rest in peace, Mr. Ferland.

The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) published: “Infinite gratitude for the immense work that Jean-Pierre Ferland bequeaths to Quebec and Canadian society and to the entire French-speaking world. He took the song of Quebec a little higher and a little further and we are eternally grateful for it.”

The Association Québécoise de l’industrie du disco (L’ADISQ) saluted the career of “a great pillar of Quebec song, who received the Félix Prize (an award that L’ADISQ grants annually to artists working in the music and humor industry in Quebec) in 1997. May his music resonate for many years to come.”

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