A part of the public undoubtedly has the impression of knowing everything about Ginette Reno: her difficult childhood, her unhappy love affairs, her aborted international career… If the great lady of Quebec song has always been an open book, she nevertheless felt the need to write one. Even if it means pushing the limits of transparency by lifting the veil even more on its intimacy. Unlike many, Ginette Reno did not need to cultivate mystery to build her legend. The talent will have been enough to hoist her to the rank of icon.
As intimidating as it can be to come face to face with one of Quebec’s greatest voices, Ginette Reno immediately inspires confidence. There is this piercing gaze that conveys a sincere interest in the other. And of course there are all those saucy little jokes, those anecdotes bordering on good taste, often told when you least expect it, which quickly establish a familiar atmosphere.
“You won’t believe me, but I’m a very embarrassed person. Being vulgar is my way of hiding my shyness, ”says the interpreter of I am just a songmet at home on the occasion of the release of her new album, It’s all meand especially his autobiography.
Written with four hands with the help of songwriter Lambert, this work is indeed full of salacious stories, as Ginette Reno likes to tell regularly on television sets. The most curious will perhaps be happy to learn that she lost her virginity to Baronet Pierre Labelle. The more modest will no doubt be embarrassed. But no offense to the latter, Ginette Reno loves men, who also occupy a prominent place in her story.
The main thing is to be loved
After Pierre Labelle, it was Robert Watier, the father of her first two children, a man who also managed his career like a ” pimp “, she writes. A romance with producer Gilles Talbot will follow. An impossible love with Father Sablon. Then, it will be Alain Charbonneau, the father of his son Pascalin, who was also manager, and finally Karlo, 17 years his junior.
All men who hurt her, but for whom Ginette Reno nevertheless harbors no resentment. On the contrary, she suffers from no longer being able to count on a male presence on a daily basis. “I’m still in love, but the problem is that it’s the others who aren’t in love with me,” says the star, who seems very alone in her huge mansion with the decor of another era.
Surrounded by the myriad of statues of angels which adorn the place and which are supposed to protect her, she adds with the sense of tragedy that we know of her: “But even if I’m in a relationship, I’m going to die alone anyway . We always die alone. When you are born, you are alone, even if your mother takes you in her arms. And when you die, you’re still alone. And what’s most distressing is that no one knows what’s on the other side. »
The end, the one that sings Those who leave is more and more concerned about it, she who has experienced some health problems in recent years. The first single from his new album, Malatualso deals with aging with humor.
The singer, who will be 77 in a few weeks, says she still feels too fragile to go back on stage. Much to his regret. She hopes to be fully recovered sooner rather than later, consumed by the desire to reconnect with the public to present her new album. After 60 years of career, Ginette Reno still has the sacred fire. Her eyes light up when she talks about her projects, especially the animated film inspired by her repertoire that she dreams of producing.
Denise, René and absentees
Ginette Reno thinks more often of death than of retirement, which will happen at the same time anyway. Like Dalida, she would like to die on stage. The natural culmination of a life dedicated to the public. A prolific career, some of the highlights of which have been completely evacuated from this autobiography. Not a word, for example, about his meeting with Jean-Claude Lauzon, who offered him his first big role, in Leolo.
Ginette Reno however devotes an entire chapter to her friend Denise Filiatrault. “We are both Taurus, pig-head ascendant,” Ginette Reno jokes with a touch of esotericism. The singer explains that the director with a boiling character did not want her for the title role of Laura Cadieux. It was producer Denise Robert who imposed Ginette Reno. The filming therefore gave rise to a few sparks, even if Ginette insists in an interview to specify that they also had “a lot of fun together” on this set.
His friendship with René Angélil, his former manager, was not always smooth sailing either. We suspect that their artistic break was trying. The story has been told a thousand times: René Angélil had set up a plan for Ginette Reno’s career to take off abroad, but it failed him. It is therefore surprising that this episode is not at all discussed in this autobiography.
In the book, Ginette Reno, on the contrary, has only good words for the illustrious impresario, who died in 2016. But in the interview, tongues are loosened: “René said that if I left, it was because of my lover at the time. But that’s not the real reason. René was not a liar, but he was dishonest. Same Mme Dion had a hard time keeping track of things with him. […] He was doing his job, we had a lot of fun together, but he did something one day that made me completely insecure. I ended up losing faith in him. »
Sing without judging
Ginette Reno does not want to go into details. Never, anyway, did she write this book with a thirst for revenge. She forgave everyone who hurt her. Starting with his mother, manic-depressive who took pleasure in insulting him, or his father, alcoholic and violent. Her unshakable faith helped her to make peace with her ghosts, her demons.
It is undoubtedly these deep religious convictions which also lead Ginette Reno to excuse even the inexcusable. Among other things, she struggles to sincerely regret having sung in the summer of 2000 at the wedding of Hells Angel René Charlebois, who committed suicide 13 years later after escaping from prison.
At the time, his presence had made the headlines of the newspapers. Ginette Reno has always sworn that she only found out at the last minute that it was a biker’s wedding. A controversy on which she however did not wish to return in her book.
“When I sang in front of this guy, he was crying like a child. He couldn’t believe that Ginette Reno sang at her wedding. It marked me a lot. Could it be that I made a difference that day? Maybe. A killer, he doesn’t kill all day anyway! He’s still a human being. He saw something else also the rest of the day. […] But hey, how could I have found the right words in the book to explain this so that people would understand? asks Ginette Reno.
She may find them by the time the second autobiography she’s thinking of writing is published, to talk about everything she couldn’t say in 320 pages. There is so much more to write about the tumults of his life. Enough even to make a movie out of it.