The song was released in 1989 Helene made a certain Roch Voisine immediately famous. 35 years later, the singer announces an anniversary tour through Quebec Helene 35.
There are successes that are not only difficult to explain, but are also the result of coincidences. This is how Roch Voisine describes Hélène’s iridescence. Released in Quebec in 1989, it quickly sold 100,000 copies a week, expediting the writing of his first full album to be released to the public… three weeks later!
TOMA ICZKOVITS
A song to feel good
To be clear, the song that propelled Roch Voisine to stardom was essentially composed by the singer for someone else’s lover, as a Valentine’s Day gift.
“It should be liked. I wrote it with my friend and recorded it with four Quebec Remparts hockey players seven years before it hit the radio. His girlfriend’s name was Hélène,” he recalls with a laugh.
“Honestly, I don’t think it’s the best song of my life,” admits the artist. Rather, he believes Hélène’s success comes from a combination of things: the right moment, cultural reference points and a small je ne sais quoi that “must be supported by something bigger than the song.”
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Reconnecting electric guitars
Roch Voisine accepts – and even laughs at – the fact that he can no longer run from one end of the stage to the other like he did during the Rochmania era. However, the 60-year-old performer assures that this anniversary concert will be a large-scale production with a very visual offering, carried by a “fire team”.
“Musically it’s going to rock. We’re no longer acoustic at all, we’re plugging the electric guitars back in and we’re on a big stage. We will try to remember how we did it back then,” explains the man who, in his early days, surrounded himself with musicians with whom he worked.
The singer also wanted to start his tour in Quebec, where it all began for him.
For the artist, who has released 30 albums in 30 years, dealing with the long list of his songs popular in Quebec was a headache. He believes that he managed to make smart choices by choosing each piece according to the message it conveys. He will also offer some titles that have never been performed on stage, including the piece Encore, which awakens this very desire to do something “again.”
And first-time admirers can rest assured: Roch Voisine promises that the song Hélène, which has been adapted several times over the years, will be offered in its original version.
-The anniversary show Roch Voisine Hélène 35 will stop at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on March 8 and 9, at the Place des arts in Montréal on March 23 and 30, and at the Cogego Amphitheater in Trois-Rivières on August 29 2024.
TOMA ICZKOVITS