Music of Quebec
Quebec's popular artists of the last century include Félix Leclerc (1950's), Gilles Vigneault (1960s–present), Kate and Anna McGarrigle (1970's–present) and Céline Dion (1980's–present).
The Canadiens brought with them a rich tradition of songs and dances from northern France, namely the regions of Île-de-France, Picardy, Normandy, Poitou, and Brittany.
The popular songwriters and singers of this period were Gilles Vigneault, Leonard Cohen (attended McGill University, d.2016, buried in Montreal), and Félix Leclerc, who brought more influences to the music of France-based singing stars like Jacques Brel.
[14] In 1974, Vigneault and Leclerc played on the Plains of Abraham with Robert Charlebois, who made heavy use of Quebec French in his rock and roll fusions.
In 1976, multi-instrumentalist sisters Kate & Anna McGarrigle emerged on the international music scene with their blend of folk-rock and vocal harmonies added to self-penned songs in English and French, many of the latter co-written with Swiss-born poet Philippe Tatartcheff.
Jim Corcoran and Bertrand Gosselin released La tête en gigue, an influential album that helped bring Quebec roots to crossover audiences across Canada, the United States and Europe.
1 Billboard Hot 100 hits like "My Heart Will Go On" in 1998), Les Stups, La Chicane, Dan Bigras, Isabelle Boulay and more recently Cœur de pirate.
Hip-hop has been widely active in the Montreal area with groups like Loco Locass, Sans Pression, Dionysos, Criollo, Atach Tatuq, Manu Militari, KCLMNOP, Imposs, Muzion and Dubmatique.
The Quebec black metal scene has also gotten some attention in recent years, including bands like Akitsa, Spirit of the Forest, Forteresse, Chasse-Galerie, Monarque and Nefastus Dies.
Black Emperor, Riverbeds, Stars, The Stills, The Unicorns, Wolf Parade, Rufus Wainwright, Sam Roberts, Paul Cargnello, We Are Wolves, The New Cities, Chromeo, Simple Plan and William Shatner.
In addition, some Quebec artists from the 1960s to the 1980s Lewis Furey, Men Without Hats, Norman Iceberg, Rational Youth, Corey Hart, Julie Masse, Martine St. Clair, Marjo, Offenbach, The Box, Gino Vannelli, Luba, Jacynthe, France Joli, Sass Jordan, and Grimskunk have frequently recorded both English and French material.
Some famous jazz musicians from Quebec are Oscar Peterson, Paul Bley, Oliver Jones, Charles Biddle, Ranee Lee, Karen Young, and Alain Caron.
Other famous composers are Claude Champagne, Calixa Lavallée, Pierre Mercure, Jacques Hétu, André Gagnon, Airat Ichmouratov, Denis Gougeon, José Evangelista and composer-critic Alfred La Liberté, among others.
Quebec singers that have performed in France included: Céline Dion, Garou, Anthony Kavanagh (a stand-up comedian), Isabelle Boulay, Bruno Pelletier, Lynda Lemay, Cœur de pirate and many others.
The main musicals 'made in Quebec' : Starmania, La Légende de Jimmy, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, Chicago (adapted into French), "Demain matin, Montréal m'attend", Dracula.
