Roch Voisine, Canadian artist multiples talents, has traced an impressive artistic path. Born March 26, 1963 in Edmundston, New Brunswick, he began his musical career in the 1980s. His first hit, Helene, propelled its notoriety on an international scale in 1989. Singer, composer and actor, Roch Voisine quickly won the hearts of the public with his captivating voice. Over the decades, he has had a string of successes, exploring different musical genres. His commitment to charitable projects, reflecting his social sensitivity, reinforced his positive influence. Thus, we were able to find it as special representative of UNICEF between 2000 and 2001. Alongside music, the Quebecois also shone on stage and on screen. He has participated in landmark theater productions and series, demonstrating his artistic versatility. Notably, he played the role of Danny Ross in the famous series Lance and Count in 1989.
Moreover, his charismatic presence has made him an emblematic figure of French-speaking entertainment. Blessed with natural charm, Roch Voisine has maintained his relevance in the entertainment industry. In addition, the latter is at the forefront, giving many concerts in France or even in Quebec. However, nothing would be the same, if he hadn’t broken through with Helene. To this extent, he returned to the origins of this legendary piece in the show C à vous on France 5.
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Roch Voisine: The genesis behind Hélène.
We no longer present this timeless hit of the 80s. It was a huge success both in France and in Quebec. The eponymous album sold more than a million copies after its release in June 1989. In addition, this remains to this day the artist’s biggest success. A nice consecration as he almost composed and wrote this album alone.
A distinguished guest on the set of C à vous this November 29, Roch Voisine spoke about the origin of this piece. Thus, we originally learned that he had composed it to do a favor for a friend, with the aim that he can seduce his girlfriend on the occasion of Valentine’s Day. To this extent, he explains:
“She’s someone I’ve lost track of, she wasn’t my girlfriend at the time. It’s actually a Valentine’s Day gift from her boyfriend. »
According to the artist, this event took place in 1982 and will have been the opportunity for his friend and himself to spend a good evening announcing the beginnings of a crazy story.
“He asks me, like this: ‘Okay, I’d like to surprise Hélène. We could write him a song. That way, we’re going to sing to him on Valentine’s Day at my house… I showed up at the party, on Valentine’s Day. I didn’t stay all evening, but we sang the song to him. We did it to him live” explained Roch Voisine on France 5.
Finally, he ended up returning to the origins of his biggest success, since we remember that on Télématin in 2022, he said:
“We shouldn’t ask too many questions about these legendary songs, because otherwise we’ll be disappointed to learn the genesis. It was done simply to please someone else. It’s not even my story. »
Despite this success, Roch Voisine also had the other side of the coin which accompanied this immense success.
After Helene.
Indeed, for Roch Voisine, it was necessary to digest the immense success that Hélène was and then to renew in order to stay at the top of the music charts. And it is precisely about this that the Canadian singer spoke to MRadio:
“On the contrary, after Hélène was quite difficult. It was complicated, you arrived with a new album, a new song, like the second single, and the first thing they asked me was to sing Hélène. »
Unfortunately for many artists with a flagship title, these are reduced to this. Thus obscuring their entire discography. Besides, Roch Voisine laughs about it during his concerts:
“It became annoying to the point where to laugh with the fans I started the concert with this song and I said “Okay, that’s it, those who came for this can go home, the others we have two hours of music.
Fortunately for fans of the song and the singer, the latter maintains a very good relationship with the song that propelled him to this level:
“It always gives me pleasure to perform the song in concert. I don’t do it all the time.”