Quebec singer Paolo Noël dies at 93

Article content

Quebec singer Paolo Noël has died, his family announced Sunday in a post on the Facebook page of his daughter-in-law, Pascale Lanari. He was 93.

Article content

The cause of death was not made public, but it was known Noël had Alzheimer’s disease. He was surrounded by loved ones, grandson Bleu Reef Obermayr told La Presse. Noël had recently been admitted to palliative care.

“He was someone exceptional. He was kind and he had a good heart. It was he who made me want to make music,” said the 29-year-old rapper.

“When I was young, he would sing ‘La chanson du petit voilier’ to me and I thought it was just a song,” he recalled. “I realized later that it was special — that I was somehow entitled to it.”

His other grandson, Merlin Noël, said how much he admired Noël. “When I was little, my grandfather told me never to listen if I was told to do something I didn’t want to do,” he said.

“It really stuck with me. And all his life from him, he kept his word on it: ‘Follow your dreams,’ ”he would say.

On Sunday afternoon, Quebec Premier François Legault expressed his condolences to the family. “I have fond memories of this charming singer, of his role in the television series Toast et café, of music halls and of his role as the tough guy in Omertà,” he tweeted.

Article content

Born in Montreal on March 4, 1929, Paolo Noël spent part of his childhood in the Gaspé before returning to Montreal. An imitation of French singer Tino Rossi won him a radio contest at CKAC in 1948. The following year, he made his debut on the cabaret scene covering Rossi hits and those of Luis Mariano, known as “the prince of the operetta.” He then began to perform his own compositions, accompanying himself on guitar.

Noël spent several years with the traveling troupe of impresario Jean Grimaldi, burlesque revues interspersed with singing numbers.

During this time, he recorded his first records, with titles including odes to the sea and to Christian heritage. He had great success with such titles as Vièrge Marie, Le chanson du petit voilier, and Le plus beau tango du monde.

Article content

Noël also hosted radio shows at CKVL and the Music Hall television variety show at Radio-Canada in 1955. He performed in several trendy Montreal cabarets and became master of ceremonies at clubs including Montreal’s Casa Loma.

He later headlined programs at Télé-Métropole including Toast et café, with Dominique Michel, and Le music-Hall des jeunes et Les tannants de chez-nous, with Gilles Latulippe. In 1968, readers of the gossip newspaper Télé-Radiomonde elected him “Monsieur Radio-Télévision” at the Gala des artistes. I have moved to the radio station CJMS, where I have hosted the program Le Café provincial.

Noël remained on the charts throughout the 1960s, with such pop-romantic hits as J’avais 20 ans and L’amour est bleu. He performed at Place des arts in 1971, after his success with the song Je n’aime que toi. His career continued in cabarets in Quebec and in Florida, on the trail of snowbirds in winter.

Article content

In 1973 and 1974, such whimsical songs as Flouche flouche, prout prout, Flip, Flop et Fly and T’as ben des beaux bip-bops were successful, although they probably wouldn’t pass the test of sexism and homophobia today.

In addition to his career as a singer, Paolo Noël was an actor, most notably in the third season of the television series Omertà-La Loi du silence in 1999, in which he played the role of stony-faced hitman Tony Potenza. He reprized the role on the big screen in the 2012 film Omertà, although it was less successful.

He also appeared in the 1969 Jean Martinbeau film Danger pour la société, the 2009 film Les Doigts croches (Sticky Fingers) written and directed by Ken Scott, and Matante Aline, the 2007 comedy directed by Gabriel Pelletier.

The author, composer and performer wrote a three-volume autobiography: Entre l’amour et la haine: de l’orphelinat au succès (1980); Entre l’amour et l’amour: ainsi tourne le vent, tourne la vie (1983) and J’ai mordu dans la vie et la vie m’a mordu (2012).