Joseph Armand Roch Voisine
, OC better known as Roch Voisine
, (born March 26, 1963 in Edmundston, New Brunswick) is a Canadian Acadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host
who lives in Montreal, Quebec and Paris, France. He writes and performs material in both English and French. He won the Juno Award for Male Vocalist of the Year in 1994. In 1997 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
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ROCH VOISINE TICKETS
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Childhood and family
Roch Voisine was born in
Edmundston, but grew up in
Saint-Basile. His parents are Réal Voisine, mayor of
Notre-Dame-du-Lac,
Quebec and a former English teacher, and Zélande Robichaud, a former nurse. He is the oldest of three children: his brother, Marc, was born in 1965, and his sister, Janice, was born in 1966. Roch lived with his paternal grandparents, Maurille and Dorina Racine Voisine, from age four, when his parents divorced, until he was eight, when he went to live with his father. Roch considers these grandparents very influential on him, even as an adult. Roch moved to Notre-Dame-du-Lac when he was 12.
He aspired to be a professional
ice hockey player until he was severely injured playing
baseball in 1981.
He attended the
University of Ottawa and graduated in 1985 with a degree in
physical therapy.
Voisine married Myriam Saint-Jean on 21 December 2002. Voisine and Saint-Jean have two sons, Killian (born June 25, 2004) and Alix-Élouan (born January 9, 2006). On October 15, 2007, Voisine's website announced his and Myriam's separation.
Music
In the summer of 1986, he had his music debut when he sang on
Canada Day (July 1) in front of 50,000 people at the
la Ronde amusement park in
Montreal.
Voisine's musical breakthrough came with his 1989 album
Hélène
which sold three million copies and became a major hit not only in Quebec but also in
France,
Belgium and
Switzerland. In 1990,
Hélène
was awarded the Best Album prize at the
Victoires de la Musique.
After a highly successful European Tour in 1991, he was awarded France's
Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His second European tour culminated on 17 April 1992 at
Champ-de-Mars in Paris where he sang in front of 75,000 people. The show was broadcast live on
TF1 and reached 14 million viwers. The following years, his statue was inaugurated at
Musée Grévin in Paris.
In 1993, Voisine had his biggest English-language hit to date with the single and album both entitled
I'll Always Be There
, which he worked on with
David Foster.
Over the years, he has continued alternating between recording both French and English-language albums. His French language work and concert tours have continued to enjoy success in Europe (especially France) and Quebec, while his English-language recordings are a frequent mainstay of Canadian
adult contemporary radio. He also enjoys huge success internationally.
In 2006, he took part alongside other musicians
[1] in
L’Or de nos vies
in a formation named Fight Aids singing a song composed by
Kyo. Revenues went to Fight Aids Monaco.
Université de Moncton,
New Brunswick,
Canada gave him an honorary doctorate in music in May 2007.
Television
Voisine's first television appearance was hosting
Top Jeunesse
(1988), a
TQS variety show for teenagers.
His dramatic roles include:
- Dany Ross in the CBC Television series Lance et compte (He Shoots, He Scores)
(1989)
- Police detective Tom Bullik in the Canadian TV movie Armen and Bullik
(1992).
Discography
The albums with separate Canadian and European editions are marked with a **
- 1986 : Sweet Songs
- 1987 : Roch Voisine
- 1989 : Hélène
- 1990 : Double
(English + French)
- 1990 : Roch Voisine
(Also known as On the Outside
as per the first track on the album). It has the same content as the English section of the album Double
- 1992 : Europe Tour
- 1993 : I'll Always Be There
- 1994 : Coup de tête
- 1996 : Kissing Rain
- 1999 : Chaque feu
** and a special Canadian edition
- 2000 : L'album de Noël
** (French)
- 2000 : Christmas is Calling
(English)
- 2001 : Roch Voisine
**
- 2002 : Higher
- 2003 : Je te serai fidèle
- 2005 : Sauf si l'amour...
- 2006 : Roch Voisine Live
(French + English CD)
- 2007 : Best of
**
- 2008 : Americana
- 2009 : Americana II
References
- Artists taking part included Anggun, Bénabar, Amel Bent, Patrick Bruel, Corneille, Emma Daumas, Jenifer, Kyo, Leslie, Emmanuel Moire, M. Pokora, Roch Voisine, Princess Stéphanie of Monaco and Tété