On the radio, in record stores and, above all, online, Les Cowboys Fringants have been breaking records since the death of Karl Tremblay. Of the 100 most listened to songs last week in Quebec on streaming services, 13 are from the group. Three of them even rank among the top 10 places. Never seen before, especially in a context where Quebec music is struggling to find its audience online.
Already, in 2022, Les Cowboys Fringants occupied 15e rank of the most popular artists on streaming services in Quebec. This very enviable place in the ranking made them the most listened to Quebec artists on platforms in the province. But over the past week, their success has taken on new proportions.
Success America crieswho occupied 116e position in the ranking the previous week, rose to second place among the most listened to songs online in Quebec, pushing aside all the current American headlines in the process. Son my shoulder went from the 352e at 3e place ; Shooting Starsof the 368e at 6e. Even more incredible: this data compiles listenings for the week of November 10 to 16. However, Karl’s death was only announced on the evening of Wednesday, November 15.
“That means that we were only able to measure one day after the death of Karl Tremblay. We were still at the start of the wave and we were already seeing a huge impact. The impact will be even more visible in the figures which will be revealed next week,” predicts Ève Paré, the general director of ADISQ.
And for good reason, six Cowboys songs still appeared in the top-50 Canadian on the Spotify platform last Saturday. This is one of the rare times, if not the first time, that Quebec artists who sing in French are included in this ranking which compiles daily listenings from coast to coast.
The phenomenon that we have been witnessing in recent days with Les Cowboys Fringants goes against the general trend. Since the arrival of the platforms, we have noticed that Quebec music is struggling to be heard. Last year, Quebec pieces in French represented barely 5% of the music listened to on the platforms.
“In recent days, we have witnessed a real social phenomenon, which proves that Quebec music can still serve as a social link. It shows that it is still possible for the same group to succeed in bringing together several generations,” rejoices Ève Paré.
More popular than Céline
The wave of love for Les Cowboys Fringants is also felt on the radio waves. Stations were inundated with special requests following the death of the band’s lead singer. “In our text messaging, there are a lot of people who told us their memories with Cowboys songs,” relates Étienne Grégoire, musical director of Rythme FM, who does not remember such a movement after the death of a artist.
Rythme FM, whose audience is mainly female, had a special program the same evening as the death of Karl Tremblay was announced. The next morning, the musical program was also devoted to Cowboys Fringants. Then, the music of the Cowboys continued to color the musical selection, at a rate of two songs per hour.
Rythme FM’s sister station, CKOI, which targets a younger audience, was also playing old Cowboys Fringants hits on a loop at the same time. Étienne Grégoire does not remember an artist, Quebecois or foreign, having been so omnipresent on the air in the days following his disappearance. “We were thinking about it internally and, honestly, I don’t think we’ll ever see that again. Although if Celine Dion disappeared tomorrow morning, I don’t think it would be as intense. It is not obvious that CKOI, where his music has not been played for years, would start playing his songs non-stop. »
“There are not many artists who please the Rythme audience as much as the CKOI audience,” underlines the man who has around ten years of experience as musical director.
Out of stock
Album sales really have nothing to do with what they once were, obviously, but even in this regard, the enthusiasm for Les Cowboys Fringants is obvious. On the group’s website, we can see that practically all albums and derivative products are out of print.
The few record stores still open in Montreal were also stormed by Cowboys admirers the day after Karl Tremblay’s death: in a single day, they had already sold everything. A week later, most of them are still out of stock, both vinyl and compact discs, and hoping for reprints quickly.
“There are a lot of people who come into the store trying to find Cowboys albums who have never been here before. There was no such big effect after the death of Bowie or Cohen, for example. It’s really something else,” says Jean-François Rioux, the owner of the record store Le Vacarme, located on the Plaza Saint-Hubert.