After an intense battle with prostate cancer, Karl Tremblay, singer of the Cowboys Fringants, passed away on November 15, 2023, leaving his loved ones in mourning, but also all of Quebec weeping in unison. Icon of a generation.
Few people have ever hummed a Cowboys Fringants song in their car or around a campfire. From the elderly to the child to the young person taking their first steps into adult life, everyone knows at least one song by the group from Repentigny.
The QMI agency therefore decided to name him Personality of the Year 2023 following the results of a survey of Quebecor media information managers.
“Over the years, Karl Tremblay gradually entered our lives until he became a member of our family. His voice and his songs accompanied us everywhere,” concluded Jean LaRoche, information director of the Journal de Québec.
AFP
When the voice of the Cowboys died at the age of 47, a wave of sadness the likes of which we have rarely seen in an artist other than Félix Leclerc and Gerry Boulet d'Offenbach swept Quebecers, noted Danick Trottier, professor of musicology at the University of Quebec UQAM.
“It may be the first time in music that grief is experienced through something more generational,” he noted of Karl Tremblay.
Many Quebecers rushed to snag a ticket so they could say goodbye to him one last time on November 28 at a national ceremony at the Bell Centre. The other members of the group, Jean-François Pauzé, Jérôme Dupras and Marie-Annick Lépine, the partner of Karl Tremblay, with whom he had two children, were also present.
AFP
A shockwave
“I always really liked Les Cowboys Fringants, but it wasn't until Karl Tremblay died that I realized the extent to which it was a feeling shared by many Quebecers from all walks of life,” said Camille Dauphinais-Pelletier, head of content at 24 Heures.
For Danick Trottier, this influence can be attributed to the social character of the group's songs, but also to their presence alongside the Quebecers for more than 20 years. Without forgetting the announcement of the singer's illness in 2022.
“Karl Tremblay had a very lovable personality, but also a somewhat elusive character because he was less interested in the media game than other stars in Quebec,” he emphasized.
Above all, Les Cowboys Fringants and their singer have always managed to put the feelings of Quebecers into words.
This is particularly the case with her songs “America is Crying” and “On My Shoulder,” which were released in 2019, and which took on an almost symbolic dimension during the pandemic, says the expert.
“These songs very much reflected our loneliness and our fear. “That spanned several generations,” he analyzed.
TOMA ICZKOVITS
Les Cowboys Fringants have also left a mark in other French-speaking countries such as France, where they found success in the early 2000s.
The show of a lifetime
The highly anticipated performance of the Cowboys Fringants at the last edition of the Quebec Summer Festival was canceled due to bad weather conditions.
A few days later, on July 17, Karl Tremblay finally took the stage and delivered the performance of his life before a crowd of 90,000 people gathered on the Plains of Abraham.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
“This artist showed incredible courage and strength to give the audience an unforgettable show,” recalled Karen Villeneuve, show director of the Journal de Québec.
“This concert was about something fateful,” said Danick Trottier. “The musical testament of Karl Tremblay appears at this moment in all its most serious and emotional aspects.”
Although the group returned to the stage afterwards, several concerts were canceled in the summer due to Karl Tremblay's health.
Even without the singer, the history of the Cowboys will continue to be written through the Karl Tremblay myth, believes the musicology professor.
In a way, this is already the case with the Cowboys Fringants musical “Pub Royal,” which premiered in Quebec a week after the singer's death.
“He will become more than an iconic figure, he will be an integral part when we talk about Quebec songs,” he concluded.