Gilles Vigneault

Born on October 27th, 1928

Poet, storyteller, singer and songwriter from Quebec (Canada)

This son of a sea fisherman has written some forty books and three hundred songs, poems that he has put to music. An ardent partisan of Quebec sovereignty and of the French language, he started singing in the Sixties. His earliest songs are now classics, including La Danse à St Dilon, Jack Monoloy and Pendant que. It was also in the Sixties that he first appeared on stage, at the little Quebec City venu, La boite à chansons. Gilles Vigneault is best known for his song Gens du Pays. It was sung for the first time on June 24, 1975 on Montréal's Mount Royal, as part of the Fête nationale du Québec ceremonies. Today it is considered to be Québec's unofficial national anthem, replacing the traditional "Happy Birthday" song.

Vidéo : Gilles Vigneault at « Rassemblement de la Terre », Montreal

Vidéo : Gilles Vigneault – Les gens du pays