The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame is proud to announce the induction of Francine Raymond and Christian Péloquin. The event will take place on Sunday, April 11, during Le grand variété de Star Académie, which will be broadcast on TVA. “It is an honour and a true privilege to be inducting two artists of the calibre of Francine Raymond and Christian Péloquin. Their skill and the exceptional body of work that they created together deserve to be honoured!” said Vanessa Thomas, Executive Director of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
With a singular and authentic voice as well as an absolute sense of melody, singer-songwriter Francine Raymond has triumphed on the radio waves in Quebec and reached the highest rankings on the charts during the last thirty-five years: no fewer than eight consecutive No. 1s, 18 SOCAN awards, 14 nominations at the ADISQ award ceremonies, the Félix for singer-songwriter of the year, and an Octave d’or international Francophonie award granted by Radio France International (RFI) for her song “Y’a les mots”.
Her discography includes five critically acclaimed albums. With her extensive stage experience, Francine Raymond presented herself as she is, comfortable with both fiery passion and sweetness, as connected with her musicians as she is with her audience. The songs she created between 1986 and 1996 with her guitarist Christian Péloquin have always given priority to folk and rock roots, ballads being laid on masterful harmonic progressions, with upbeat bridges and choruses that live in us for life. Whether it is “Vivre avec celui qu’on aime,” “Y’a les mots,” “Tous les bateaux font des vagues,” “Pense à moi,” “Souvenirs retrouvés,” “Pour l’amour qu’il nous reste,” “Pour te revoir” or “Magie noire et blanche,” her hit songs have left their mark on the collective imagination.
A self-taught musician active since 1971, Christian Péloquin is also a producer, arranger, conductor, musical director, composer and performer. He has mastered several instruments: guitars, dobro, mandolin, banjo, piano, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, Fender Rhodes, drums and bass. He is Francine Raymond’s creative partner on her greatest hits: the collaboration of this tight-knit team is remarkable.
“In 1977, I met Christian and his brother Michel. They had come to one of my concerts to suggest that I visit their studio in Longueuil and to record the demos of my songs there, with them. Once my series of TV commitments had ended, I (narrowly) passed my driver’s licence exam and got my first used car so that I could start the journey towards my destiny. This rich musical adventure quickly led to broader collaborations rooted in mutual sharing, which, year after year, transformed us as we kept striving to surpass ourselves. This was undeniably the springboard of a lifetime. An instant—yet eternal—fusion. Thank you for everything, my brothers.” – Francine Raymond
“We have always composed in an intuitive way, Francine and I. I always harnessed rock and pop musical influences in the creation of our songs. One melody can often inspire another. In the studio, we could spend 30 minutes without talking to one another, each of us in our own universe finding tunes and choruses. We worked a lot on melodies, which often stemmed from sound sketches I had recorded on a cassette earlier.” – Christian Péloquin
On four out of five of the singer’s albums, Péloquin, a melodist in high demand in the industry, puts his personal mark on the indelible seal of excellence. The first album, simply called Francine Raymond (1987), gave us the song Vivre avec celui qu’on aime (lyrics by Luc Plamondon), an official SOCAN Classic. The second album, Souvenirs retrouvés (1989), with its hits Pour l’amour qu’il nous reste, Droit devant and Souvenirs retrouvés, placed the team among the leading songwriters of the Francophone scene. Les Années Lumières (1993) unveils five gems: Y’a les mots, Pense à moi, À tous ceux qui s’aiment, Pour te revoir and Les années Lumières, five hits in a row that reached No. 1 on the radio. Dualité (1996) gave us, among other things, Tous les bateaux font des vagues, Magie noire et blanche and Apprivoise.
The whole body of work from Francine Raymond’s five albums is available on digital platforms here and in the Francophone world. The songs found on these albums are critically acclaimed and have, in most cases, received nominations or awards at the ADISQ gala. The Conseil de la chanson francophone, Radio-France International (RFI) and the French network of the CBC celebrate the long time these hits spent in the charts.
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