Summary
Paul Demers (March 9, 1956 – October 29, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter.[1] He was best known for writing the song "Notre Place", which came to be recognized as an anthem of the Franco-Ontarian community.[2]
Paul Demers | |
|---|---|
 Paul Demers performing at La Nuit sur l'étang in 2013. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | March 9, 1956 Gatineau, Quebec |
| Died | October 29, 2016 (aged 60) Ottawa, Ontario |
| Genres | folk rock |
| Occupation(s) | singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1979–2016 |
Background edit
Born in Gatineau, Quebec,[1] his family moved to Ottawa, Ontario when he was 16.[1] He began performing as a musician in adulthood, touring music festivals across Ontario and forming the band Purlaine in 1979.[1] Following a diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in the early 1980s, however, he took several years off from music to undergo cancer treatment.[1]
"Notre place" edit
He came out of retirement in 1986 to write the lyrics to "Notre place", which was originally commissioned for a gala to celebrate the passage of Ontario's 1986 French Language Services Act.[1] The song came to be adopted as the Franco-Ontarian community's unofficial anthem,[2] and was formally designated as the community's official anthem by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 2017.[3][4]
Following "Notre place", Demers returned to touring, both as a solo artist and with musicians Robert Paquette and Marcel Aymar in the group Paquette-Aymar-Demers,[5] released three albums, and worked as a theatre producer and director.[6] A biography of him, by writer Pierre Albert, was published by Éditions Interligne in 1992.[7]
Death edit
Demers was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January 2016.[2] He gave a retrospective interview from his hospital bed to the Ici Radio-Canada Première program Grands Lacs Café in the fall, prior to his death on October 29.[2]
Discography edit
- Paul Demers (1990)
- D’hier à toujours (1999)
- Encore une fois (2011)
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f "Singer Paul Demers wrote anthem for Franco-Ontarians". The Globe and Mail, November 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Le chanteur Paul Demers mène son ultime combat la tête haute". Radio-Canada, October 1, 2016.
- ^ Notre place devient l'hymne officiel des Franco-Ontariens. Ici Radio-Canada, March 2, 2017.
- ^ La chanson «Notre Place» reconnue hymne officiel des Franco-Ontariens. TFO, March 2, 2017.
- ^ «Notre place», nous l’avons prise en chantant. Le Devoir, November 5, 2016.
- ^ "Staged reading of new play proves captivating". Ottawa Citizen, April 2, 1990.
- ^ "Engaging biography". Ottawa Citizen, June 27, 1992.