By becoming the first member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame to sing only in French, Diane Dufresne, who will be inducted this Thursday at a ceremony in Calgary, is once again paving the way.
“Someone has to do it, as the song says,” laughs Diane Dufresne – hers in this case, hollywood freakwhich dates from 1977. It was a year before the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), which also deals with the Juno Awards, founded this Canadian “Hall of Fame”, which will induct this year, in addition to Diane Dufresne, the jazz pianist Oliver Jones, the country singer Terri Clark and the rock group Trooper.
During a telephone conversation as joyful as it is unfiltered, the diva is still surprised to be the first French-speaking singer to make her debut there in 45 years. “It’s been around for a long time, it’s still surprising. There is also Plamondon who got it [en 2011]. But there are so many French-speaking Quebecers who could have been there long before! »
Diane Dufresne doesn’t really like galas, even if honors and recognitions, “it’s always a pleasure”. It is therefore for what it represents for the public and for the French language that she agreed to go to Calgary this week, telling herself that after her, “there will surely be others”.
I’m going to put on my Diane Dufresne clothes and go for a walk. It’s a great outing.
Diane Dufresne
All contacts have been pleasant and “everyone makes an effort” to speak French to him, says the singer, who recalls that the induction comes with a donation of instruments worth $ 15,000, from patron, to a school in a disadvantaged area. Which makes him very happy.
For her part, she must bequeath one of her stage artifacts to the Pantheon Museum, which is also located in Calgary. What she gave away: The pink dress and crown she wore to embody the Statue of Liberty during her legendary show pink magic at the Olympic Stadium in 1984.
PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
Diane Dufresne, as she enters the main stage of the Olympic Stadium, in 1984
“We put that in nice boxes from Simons and sent it to them. They are so happy to receive us in this museum! I am welcomed with a lot of warmth, it’s extraordinary. Here, I scare people more, there, they are proud. Maybe because no one has seen her album cover with fleur-de-lis painted on her breasts? ” Maybe. ” She laughs. “Maybe a few. Or maybe they just send me those who speak French! »
Identify
For 60 years, Diane Dufresne has been a great ambassador for Quebec culture, its language and its accent, throughout the Francophonie. She never made a career in English, and if she has already sung in Vancouver and Toronto, it was “for people who spoke French”. “I know on Thursday most people who will be in the room will not know me. »
Her speech, which she has no intention of translating, is already written. So that it won’t be too long, and above all because she wants to make sure she doesn’t forget anyone: composers, authors, producers, hairdressers, make-up artists, fashion designers, “a whole world” who made Diane Dufresne of her .
“And the audience. The talented are also the public. Without them, I would not be inducted. »
Singing in French has never been a political choice for her. “No, it’s my life. But as soon as you launch it on the importance of French, it is inexhaustible.
It’s like outdated to speak French. But it’s our identity, otherwise we’ll be completely wiped out!
Diane Dufresne
When she sees young artists adopting Vigneault’s language to sing, she can only rejoice, especially since English can often seem “easier”. “Ease is not a road. Ease, artificial intelligence will manage with that! We will have to be a little smarter than the machines, very poetic, to win our human and French cause. »
To change
Diane Dufresne will go on tour in the fall with her magnificent show-talk On appointment, in which she recounts her journey and answers questions from the public, and in which she sings accompanied by pianist Olivier Godin. She remains active and continues to write, songs, yes, but it will be “another concept” when it comes out.
We have to change the ways of doing musical projects, because music has changed a lot. Just because I’m going to be 79 doesn’t mean I’m going to stay stationary! If you don’t go into the new, you’re really stuck. And if you are old, you are frozen rare. Not far from the salt statue! Haha!
Diane Dufresne
The singer also spent a lot of time in her studio and will exhibit new works, different from what she did before, in June in Repentigny in the art center that bears her name.
At the end of the conversation, she is asked if there is an award she has never had that would make her happy. “Oh yes, there’s one I’m going to receive in June… I can’t say what, they’re the ones who are going to announce it. This one is like earning my shoulder pads. Because it concerns the public and “it’s something else”.
“The public, when I talk about it like that, I am always moved. The people who leave their homes, who come to dream, who look at you with this confidence, and the music that carries them away… This exchange is the great privilege of my life. »
We hang up wishing him a good trip to Calgary. ” THANKS. I hope to represent you well. »