Un simple gars
grandi de neige et de bois...

A Biography of Roch Voisine

Roch Joseph Armand Voisine was born in Edmundston, New Brunswick, on March 26th, 1963. His parents, Réal and Zélande Voisine, both English teachers, were living in the small town of St-Basile. Roch's ancestors had immigrated to Canada from Châtellerault/Poitou in France in the 19th century.
Roch's grandfather Maurille was the founder of the local bank in St-Basile, his grandmother Dorina took care of their children (their son Réal and two daughters, one of whom came up with Roch's first name which she had read in their family tree).
Roch has Acadian and American Indian roots - which may explain a few things ;). He has two younger siblings, Marc and Janice. His brother Marc is working in a hospital in Montreal, his sister has her own hair salon.
When Roch was only four years old, his parents divorced. Roch was brought up by his grandparents until he was eight years old - hence his close relationship with Pépère Maurille and Mémère Dorina...
Having received his first skates at the age of three, Roch started playing hockey when he was five years old. This sport quickly became his passion, and he dreamed of becoming a professional player someday.
At the age of eight, he returned to live with his father and moved to the small town of Notre-Dame-du-Lac on the shores of Lac Temiscouata in the province of Quebec (his father is the mayor of this town today).
Thanks to his brother's guitar which he borrowed, he discovered a new passion at the age of fourteen, when he began to teach himself how to play this instrument and started to compose songs - for him a way to deal with the problems of adolescence and to express his thoughts and feelings. However, he kept those first songs mostly to himself.
During the summer holidays, he worked at the local campsite, took care of the children and sometimes performed songs (such as Elvis Presley's "Can't help falling in love") at the campfire. When he was sixteen, he also met his first love there, an American girl named Carlyne who used to spend her summer vacation at Notre-Dame-du-Lac. This first love inspired one of his most wonderful songs, "Waiting", as they were only able to see each other during the summer and Christmas holidays.
At age sixteen, Roch moved to Québec to play with the Junior hockey team there, the Remparts de Québec, one of the most prestigious teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (Guy Lafleur played with them earlier). While pursuing his school education there, he was dreaming of a career in professional hockey, but...
Just before being able to start as a professional player in the NHL, he injured his knee during a baseball game and had to stop playing hockey for a long time. When he finally recovered, he found himself behind the others and decided to follow a different direction.
He moved to Ottawa and went to University there, studying medicine to become a physiotherapist. He also began playing hockey again, not professionally, but with the University team, the Ottawa Gee-Gees. He was still pursuing his passion for music and sometimes performed in the stairways of the student residence and during some "battle of the bands" events.
His first contact with professional music came on New Year's Day of 1986 when his hockey buddy Stéphane Lessard introduced him to his uncle, Paul Vincent. After listening to a demo tape Roch had made with some friends, Paul Vincent was convinced that he had just met a future megastar. It took him a while to convince Roch to pursue a professional music career because Roch wanted to finish his studies first.
On Canada Day (July 1st) in 1986, Roch performed in front of a huge crowd for the first time. Around 50,000 people had come to see the celebrations at the La Ronde amusement park on St. Helen's Island, Montreal. Several TV appearances followed, and Roch started to appear regularly in a show called "Video Star" where he presented the current hits and sometimes performed himself. In 1987, he published two albums, "Roch Voisine" and "Sweet Songs", that were sold only over TV and that are extremely hard to find today. "Roch Voisine" featured songs composed by Roch, such as early versions of "A fishing day", "Laura" ("Mountain girl") and "Pourtant", whereas "Sweet Songs" contained cover versions of popular songs like Elton John's "Nikita", Chris de Burgh's "Lady in Red" and Anne Murray's "You needed me".
After appearing in "Garden Party", a popular TV show, several times in 1988, Roch finally got his own show, "Top Jeunesse", which he presented every Saturday evening on TQS. The first show aired on September 10, 1988, and Roch became a huge hit among the viewers.
Shortly after that, Roch got a role in one of Quebec's most popular TV series, "Lance et Compte" (He shoots, he scores), where he played Danny Ross, a young hockey player new to the team portrayed in the show. His role was planned to be no more than a guest appearance, but his reviews and the viewers' comments were so favorable that his role was extended more and more, until he became one of the main characters.
In 1989, he published his first single, the ever-famous "Hélène". It became an immense success, and an album followed quickly. This was one of the best-selling albums both in Quebec and in the French-speaking parts of Europe, with the English version of "Hélène" becoming a big hit also in the non-French-speaking countries, such as Scandinavia and Germany.
A first European tour followed in 1990, and Roch and his album collected lots of awards, such as the ADISQ award for "Artist of the Year" and "Album of the Year".
A second album followed: "Double", containing two CDs, one with songs in French, one with songs in English.
From January to May 1992, Roch went on tour again. The European part of the tour finished with a free concert at the Champs de Mars in Paris, just below the Eiffel Tower. A live album and video (both called "Europe Tour") was the result of this tour.
In July 1992, Roch was decorated with the French medal of a "Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres". He was the youngest artist ever to receive this honor.
Later that year, Roch appeared in his first TV movie, "Armen and Bullik", a humorous and exciting story about a young cop (Roch) and his uncle (played by "Mannix" Mike Connors). Roch had a lot of fun doing this movie, but his first choice would always be music. He had already had a chance to participate in another movie, "Indochine", together with Cathérine Deneuve, but had to decline because shooting had been planned for the same time as his European tour... Too bad - that white uniform would have looked gorgeous on him!
1993 started with an exciting experience when Roch was invited to perform the national anthems of Canada and the United States at the NHL All Star Game at Montreal's famous Forum.
Roch published an English album that year, "I'll always be there", after performing the title song together with co-author David Foster on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for the Canada Day celebrations.
At Christmas time the same year, he made another spectacular performance during a special Christmas show at the Vatican, singing "The Little Drummer Boy" in front of the Pope (whom he also met in a private audience).
In March 1994, Roch hosted the Juno Awards show in Toronto.
After publishing a French album, "Coup de Tête", in September 1994 (with a live show broadcast all over the world on September 29, 1994), and a tour through Canada, he returned to Europe with "Chaud 1995".
1996 he moved to Los Angeles where he took some time off and started working on a new album with which he hoped to conquer the United States. The album, "Kissing Rain", was published later in 1996 and promoted in the States in a few TV shows.
On May 4, 1997, Roch's career came to a sudden turning point when his long-time manager, Paul Vincent, died. Roch even considered to stop his career, but then (thank God!!!) decided otherwise. He went on tour in Canada late that year, performing a Christmas medley during the concerts before Christmas.
After six quiet months in France, working on his new album, he announced having found a new manager, Lise Richard, who also managed the career of Lara Fabian, early in 1999. Pierre Charbonneau became his new business manager at the same time. Unfortunately the cooperation between Roch and Lise Richard didn't last very long, so now he is practically his own manager...
After waiting for more than two years, fans were able to welcome his new album, "Chaque Feu...", in April 1999. A special edition with six new songs was released in November 1999 in Quebec only.
An official website has also been established, offering a selection of pictures, news and information as well as songs and clips for downloading.
In October 2000, he was announced as Unicef's latest "special ambassador" for Canada and has been doing some promotion for this good cause.
To make the waiting for a new album easier, Roch spoiled us in the 2000 Christmas season: answering the demands of many of his fans, he published two Christmas albums, one in English ("Christmas is Calling"), one in French (L'Album de Noel").
To promote these albums and to put his fans even more in a Christmas mood, he treated us to a wonderful Christmas tour through a dozen cities across Canada from Vancouver to Halifax, finishing it with three very special concerts at the Théâtre St-Denis in Montreal on December 21, 22 and 23.
Roch's self-titled French album was published in Canada in October 2001 and in Europe in November 2001. Roch's latest English album, "Higher", was released on November 19, 2002. The first single, "By myself", is already playing in various radio stations in Canada. Roch also treated his fans in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Southern Ontario to a great acoustic tour in October and November 2002, almost twenty performances at the Montreal Casino in February 2003, and several festivals across Eastern Canada in summer 2003.
As for his private life, there have been some big changes, too: Roch got married to Myriam St-Jean from Montreal on December 21, 2002. They are expecting their first baby (a son) in July 2004.

	Roch as a little boy - no, that's not his birthday cake! (count the candles!)
	Roch's biggest passion - hockey
	A serious student...
	During University
	The cover of his first album, "Roch Voisine"
	Starring in "Lance et Compte" as Danny Ross
	With manager Paul Vincent and producer Georges Mary
	One of the many awards he has been showered with
	In concert with his "Indian style" outfit
	Playing "Tom Bullik" in "Armen and Bullik"
	With the Pope, Christmas 1993
	During the "Chaud 1995" tour
	Another medal... The Order of Canada
	During a promotional radio show in Montreal, April 1999
	Unicef Ambassador
	With his two Christmas albums, Nov. 2000
	With his wife, Myriam