Singer Mélanie Renaud died on Tuesday at the age of 42. She had been battling ovarian cancer since 2016.
The artist, who enjoyed great success in the early 2000s thanks to the piece I blame myselfdied of the illness at 5:18 a.m. Tuesday morning at the La Prairie palliative care center, her management team said on Facebook.
PHOTO ANDRÉ TREMBLAY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
On stage, in 2006
“A lover of music and song, her memory will remain eternal and her voice has now joined that of the angels,” we can read in this short tribute paid by her agency MoonSun Musik.
Mélanie Renaud’s voice left no one indifferent, underlines in an interview with The Press Nicolas Lemieux, who was his manager for a dozen years until about three years ago.
“It was a powerful voice. […] A golden voice like that is extremely rare. She could go high or low. Bringing us some soul. She threw us to the ground,” says the man who today mourns the departure of a friend.
Discovery
It was in 1998 that Quebecers discovered the talent of Mélanie Renaud thanks to the play My angel, by Éric Lapointe, on which she sings backing vocals.
“It was a really beautiful gift of life for me,” confides the singer. While he was looking for a voice to personify the angel in his play, a friend told him about a young soloist who sang in a choir. So he invites her to the studio. “From the first takes she took, our arms fell to the ground. […] The ambient voice became a vocal solo. »
To play an angel, it was the perfect voice. A purity. It’s practically improvisation [ce qu’elle a fait]. The choice of notes is beautiful.
Eric Lapointe
“I was absolutely stunned by his voice. The natural simplicity of that voice,” recalls, for his part, Yves-François Blanchet, who was his first agent. The man who is now leader of the Bloc Québécois quickly wanted to make a record with this “voice of a beauty rarely equaled in Quebec”.
In 2001, Mélanie Renaud launched the album My freedom. It contains the song that would become his biggest career hit, I blame myselfa piece written and composed by Éric Lapointe, Claude Pineault and Roger Tabra.
Extract of I blame myself, by Mélanie Renaud
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mélanie Renaud, at the ADISQ gala in 2002
The following year, the singer, then aged 20, won the Félix for revelation of the year at the ADISQ gala. In 2004, she attracted the attention of none other than Luc Plamondon thanks to her interpretation of Love still exists during the National Day show in Montreal in front of some 200,000 people gathered at Maisonneuve Park. He then offered her the role of Esmeralda in the musical Notre Dame de Paris. She wore the clothes of the queen of the Court of Miracles from 2005 to 2006, in France and Quebec.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mélanie Renaud in the role of Esmeralda alongside Richard Charest, in 2005
“It was quite a moment for Mélanie. I think it was the most memorable moment of his career. She experienced something grandiose here and in France with Esmeralda,” says Nicolas Lemieux, who was her manager at the time. He particularly remembers the nearly 20-minute ovation that followed his first performance in Paris. “The first black Esmeralda,” he explains.
Beyond I blame myself
During her career, the singer-songwriter also starred in the musical The ten Commandments in addition to releasing five albums.
If his greatest popular success is undoubtedly I blame myself, Nicolas Lemieux underlines the quality of many of his pieces. He mentions in particular Just a goodbye“an incredible, soulful, truly beautiful piece” created for her father, the song Outlaw and its very danceable R&B side or the “big song” My country.
Extract of My countryby Mélanie Renaud
After experiencing fame in the early 2000s, the artist, born in Haiti and adopted by Quebecers at the age of 8 months, went through a long slump. “I had a drug problem, but more importantly an attitude problem,” she told The Pressin June 2017, while recording her fifth album, Wirewhile fighting ovarian cancer diagnosed a year earlier.
“Right now, all that matters is getting back into the business. It makes me happy even if I am very afraid of not succeeding,” she confided at the time.
Read the article “The Last Chance Singer”
Even though Mélanie Renaud knew that her cancer was incurable, she was back in the studio and working on new pieces for several months. In 2023, she published different videos on YouTube and TikTok, including an acoustic version of I blame myself, in addition to collaborating on the song VAG by Marion Brunelle.
Tributes
Following the announcement of Mélanie Renaud’s death, certain artists paid tribute to her on social networks.
Mélanie was full of talent, tenderness, sensitivity, gentleness, but also strength. What courage it took over the last few years to face the illness.
Gregory Charles, on social networks
“One of the most beautiful voices in Quebec has just passed away. Have a good trip, Mélanie,” published Corneille.
A few days ago, it was the Afro-descendant community that saluted the courage of Mélanie Renaud during the Dynasty gala.
“His talent, his voice, his charisma have resonated through entire generations, but beyond his artistic career, it is his courage, his strength and his determination in the face of illness which commands our respect. Her spirit never stopped fighting even when the challenges seemed insurmountable,” said Carla Beauvais, co-founder and general director of the Dynastie Foundation, during the ceremony.