Les Cowboys Fringants climbed to second place on the YouTube music charts for all of Canada on Friday with the poignant music video for the piece The end of the show, in the form of a tribute to Karl Tremblay. If Taylor Swift remains unbeatable, with her most recent success Fortnightthe Quebec quartet is ahead of several big guns in the global industry, including the very popular Toronto rapper Drake and his brand new single Push Ups.
Barely 24 hours after its release, the more than seven-minute clip of The end of the show already had nearly 500,000 views. Two other songs taken from Royal Pubthe group’s final album released Thursday, appear in the Canadian chart of the day compiled by YouTube: Thank you well! in ninth position and Loulou vs Loulou at the eleventh.
In other words, Les Cowboys Fringants achieves what is very possibly the best start of all time on listening platforms for Quebec artists who make music in French. It is more than exceptional in fact that artists who mainly target the Quebec public are included in the Canadian charts through the American stars of the day.
And the numbers for the Cowboys would definitely be even more impressive if streaming services shared daily data for Quebec only.
On Apple Music, 10 tracks from the album Royal Pub appeared on Friday in the top 100 most listened to songs in Canada, including The end of the show at 38e place. Even better on Spotify, The end of the show occupied the 26e position, in front we can’t be friends, the success of American pop star Ariane Grande. The Cowboys also did better than Beyoncé, none of whose new songs appeared on Spotify’s Canadian top-50 on Friday.
Even before the death of Karl Tremblay, Les Cowboys Fringants were among the most popular Quebec artists on digital platforms. But their success became out of proportion after the death last November of Karl Tremblay, died of cancer at the age of 47. In the days following the announcement of the news, several old hits from the group had reconquered the Canadian charts.
The love rating for the Cowboys is all the more exceptional as Quebec music has struggled to find its audience on listening platforms for several years. It is estimated that only 8% of songs listened to online in Quebec are pieces by Quebec artists.