Diane Dufresne is the second Francophone inducted, but the first performer. Lyricist Luc Plamondon was over 20 years ago.
At 78, Diane Dufresne is back on stage this summer with her show-talk, “Diane Dufresne by appointment”.
The induction of Diane Dufresne into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, on May 18, confirms the long and rich career of the Quebec singer as much as it strengthens her immortality a little more in the hearts of her admirers.
Rhinestones and sequins, it does not enchant him that much. But the moment is worth it: since the creation of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame nearly half a century ago, she will be the second French-speaking artist to receive this honor – but the first interpreter –, after the lyricist Luc Plamondon, in 1999.
The event is organized at the National Music Center in Calgary by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which is also the mastermind behind the Juno Awards ceremony.
The goal is to pay tribute to artists who have had a remarkable impact on Canadian music, both nationally and internationally, explains the organization in a press release.< /p>
The selection criteria are musical excellence, commercial success with local and international audiences, significant contribution to Canadian music.
Diane Dufresne enters this palace of the immortals alongside three other artists. They are jazz pianist Oliver Jones, country music star Terri Clark, and legendary rock band Trooper.
The induction ceremony also allows the Quebec singer to rediscover her reason for being, the public, with whom she has a kind of mutual allegiance.
“I think about the public, [because] for me, the public is an integral part of my career. »
— Diane Dufresne, interviewed on the show La Croisée
It is therefore no coincidence that Diane Dufresne chose to perform for his induction a well-known song from his repertoire: Partager les anges. Written by Roger Tabra, it depicts the relationship between artists and their audience.
Diane Dufresne says she has always been supported by the public, especially at the start of her career when she was criticized for her extravagant costumes.
The public came to my concerts with very bright clothes, as a form of support. According to her, when the public comes to see an artist on stage, it is as much to enjoy his show as to transmit his love to him. Therefore, the honors, whatever they are, it is first of all to the public that the artist owes them, she affirms.
The public likes it, and she loves it back.
“Leaving the public when you see him once every two years only, and only one evening, it's like a heartache, it's very painful. […] People love me. I love them too and take care of them.
— Diane Dufresne in 1984, in the French newspaper Le Monde
As much as Diane Dufresne considers the public as her Oxygen, she remains viscerally attached to her mother tongue, French, which she wears over her shoulder.
The singer had also warned the organizers of the induction ceremony that she was only going to speak French both during her speech and during the interviews. She wanted to do honor to her language and convey her message without false notes, English not being [her] thing.
The artist is also known for his attachment to his province. In 1973, for the cover of the cover of Apart from that, I feel good, she posed bare breasts, then covered by two fleur-de-lys imitating the painting, the emblem on the flag of Quebec, is reminiscent of Le Devoirof Montreal.
“I refine my shows a lot, I work every day”, explains Diane Dufresne during an interview.
Diane Dufresne has 12 studio albums and 5 live albums to her credit between 1972 and 2018, as recalled in a press release from the Canadian Academy of Arts and recording science.
I met the man of my life is one of its greatest successes, with more than 200,000 copies sold in Quebec and France in 1972.
Other distinctions she has received include, among others, the Governor General's Award for the Performing Arts, the title of Chevalier de l'ordre national du Québec, the order of the Legion of Honor and the title of Commander of Arts and Letters in France.
At 78, she will return to the stage this summer with her talk show Diane Dufresne by appointment.
Furthermore, when asked why Since 1978, the year the Canadian Music Hall of Fame was created, Diane Dufresne has been the only French-speaking performer to be inducted into it. Andrew Mosker, CEO of the National Music Center, replies that at the time it was necessary to choose, each year, only one or only one artist among so many others. That left fewer options, he told La Croisée.
For some years, it has been decided that there should be more artists, more diversity at the Pantheon.
In the future, there will be more Quebec artists who will be considered and inducted into this hall of fame, he hopes, noting that the number of artists chosen each year has increased to four since 2019.
