Roch Voisine • MyNewBrunswick.ca

The popular singing sensation, Joseph Armand Roch Voisine was born on March 26, 1963 in Edmundston to Real and Zelanda Voisine. He was brought up in Saint-Basile, but moved to Notre-Dame-du-Lac, following the divorce of his parents.

As a child, he was an ardent hockey fan and aspired to play the sport professionally. However that dream came to an end after he suffered a knee injury. He then diverted his attention to playing guitar and writing music. Alongside this, he enrolled himself in the University of Ottawa to study physiotherapy.

He found that his passion lay more with music and subsequently started recording compositions with his friends. When Paul Vincent, who was a friend of Voisine’s uncle and a disc jockey, heard these compositions, he decided that Voisine had genuine talent as a singer and composer and decided to become his manager.

In 1986, Roch Voisine made his debut when he sang at LaRonde in Montreal on Canada Day. He also went on to host the television show, “Top Jeunesse” on a private Quebec channel. In 1989, he made an appearance in the television series, “Lance et Compte” as Dany Ross. All of this led to Voisine gaining a significant fan following and it wasn’t long before he completed his transition as a musician.

In 1989, he released his album, “Hélène” which garnered colossal success, selling over three million copies not just in Quebec but also in Switzerland, Belgium and France. In 1990, “Hélène” won Voisine the awards for “Best Album”, “Best Singer” and “Best Song”. Riding on the success of his album, he quickly released his second album titled, “Double” which contained songs both in French and English, which yielded positive reviews and won him the award for “Best Album” at the Victoires de la Musique awards.

Following this, he conducted international tours which further magnified his stardom and became the youngest musician to be awarded the “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres”.

More successful singles followed and he soon released his album, “I’ll Always Be There” with David Foster. The album earned him a Juno Award for “Best Canadian Singer”. The title track earned a spot at number four on music charts in Canada, whilst the album stood at number seven. In the span of his career, he has released albums both in English and French.

In 1993, he made an appearance in the American television movie, “Armen and Bullik” starring opposite Mike Conners but unfortunately it did not receive much success. However his album, “Europe Tour” which was released around the same time, was another instant hit. However, his success started dwindling a bit when in 1994 his album, “Coup de tête” failed to impress his fans or critics. Following some tours, he decided to relocate to Los Angeles where he released his next album titled, “Kissing Rain” in 1996 which again failed to make a significant difference in Europe.

However in 1997, after singing for the Queen on Canada Day he was awarded with the tile of “Officier de l’Ordre du Canada”. In 2014 he became a member of the Order of New Brunswick.

In 2000, Roch Voisine released his album, “Chaque Feu” which did well both in France and Canada, establishing his former fame. In 2003 and 2005 he released his albums, “Je te serai fidèle” and “Sauf si l’amour” which brought him back to the limelight. Some of work includes the album series, “Americana” in 2008, “Confidences” in 2010 and “Duophonique” in 2013.