Marie Denise Pelletier

Early Life and Education

Marie Denise Pelletier demonstrated an aptitude for music from her earliest days. She inherited an exceptional singing voice — with a broad vocal range and power — from her parents, both of whom were singers. Though talented and bright, Pelletier had a difficult time in school. In an interview, she recalled frequently being bored in school. In addition, she struggled with ADHD as a kid. She considered herself the “queen of procrastination,” and because school didn’t challenge her to succeed, she found herself becoming lazy.

Recognizing her vocal strengths in her youth, Pelletier took singing lessons with Lucille Dumont, a famous Québécoise singer who helped popularize a unique Québécoise pop sound. It was thanks to Dumont’s mentorship that the young Pelletier transformed into a hard-working and highly organized person. Dumont made her realize that talent is worthless without the hard work that must accompany it to produce genuine success.

Pelletier also studied literature and cinema at the Cégep de Rosemont.

Early Career

In 1982, Marie Denise Pelletier won the performance prize at the Festival international de la chanson de Granby, as well as first place in a competition for emerging artists organized by Montreal radio station CKMF-FM. Pelletier then formed the group Musical Digital Print. It distinguished itself in the pop music competitions l’Empire des futures stars (Empire of Future Stars) and Fame Game.

Pelletier released her first single, “Échec et mat” (“Checkmate”), in 1985. She then left Quebec to study jazz and funk at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. After returning to Quebec, she gained considerable attention when she played the role of Stella Spotlight in the second Quebec edition of the rock opera Starmania. Pelletier took over the role initially played by superstar Diane Dufresne.

Pelletier recorded her first LP, Premier contact (First Contact), in 1986. The album showed her abilities as a songwriter and earned her a Prix Félix nomination for Discovery of the Year.

Pelletier’s second album, À l’état pur (1987), contained some of her biggest hits. The album stayed on the charts for 60 weeks. She embarked on her first major tour, with 150 performances. By 1988, at age 28, Pelletier had established herself as a major Quebec star. Despite this, Pelletier said she hated being famous.

Career Highlights

Marie Denise Pelletier’s third album, Survivre (1990), was certified gold in Canada in just six weeks. In 1991, she released Le rendez-vous, a cover album of classic Quebec songs by such songwriters as Luc Plamondon, Gilles Vigneault and Jean-Pierre Ferland. The concert tour that accompanied the album included 200 shows.

In 1994, Pelletier joined Robert Charlebois, Yvon Deschamps and Daniel Bélanger to perform at the Saint-Jean Baptiste Day celebrations in front of an estimated 300,000 people. She also won her first Prix Félix that year for her album Entre la tête et le coeur. The associated concert tour is considered the best of her career.

In 1997, she was asked to represent Quebec at the first Francophonie Arts Festival held in Hanoi, Vietnam. She then participated in the show Classic Queen with Bruno Pelletier, Natalie Choquette and the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières. The performance took place on the Plains of Abraham in front of 45,000 people.

In 1998, Marie Denise Pelletier became the first Quebec artist invited to the Festival du Vent in Corsica. She ended the decade by participating in the Via l'Afrique project, taking part in concerts in Abidjan and Dakar in the company of African stars Meiway, Aïcha Koné and the Guissé Brothers. Having sung on four continents by this point, Pelletier returned home and ended 1999 with her first tour of Western Canada.

Other Activities

From 1998 to 2014, Pelletier served as president of Artisti, a Canadian licensing body associated with the Union des Artistes. (See also Music Publishing.) Artisti is composed of performers, including backup singers and musicians, and works to collectively manage equitable remuneration rights for artists. In an interview, Pelletier said she didn’t think she would ever get involved in a quasi-political organization, but did so to support fellow artists during a time when copyright laws were changing.

Pelletier has also served as the chief spokesperson for L'Œuvre Léger (now called Mission inclusion), a Quebec-based non-profit that seeks to help marginalized communities.

In 2014, Pelletier directed her first production: a tribute show to Georges Hamel that brought together Laurence Jalbert, Maxime Landry and Annie Blanchard. A year later, she performed the song “Le tour du bloc” on the album Intemporelle Diane Dufresne. She also released Les introuvables (2015), a box set that compiled her first five albums and more than 50 original songs.

A big fan of Claude Léveillée, Pelletier released the tribute album Léveillée, Entre Claude et moi in 2017. In 2018, Pelletier joined the cast of the Quebec version of the comedy-musical Fame.

Honours and Awards

Marie Denise Pelletier’s first major award launched her career. In 1982, she won the performance prize at the Festival international de la chanson de Granby (Granby International Song Festival). In 1993, she won the Grand Prix in the Francovision song contest, which was broadcast internationally to an estimated 60 million viewers.

Over the course of her career, Pelletier has been nominated for 19 Prix Félix. She has won twice, in 1994 (for pop album of the year) and in 2022 (for performance of the year, which she shared with Joe Bocan and Marie Carmen).

(See also Chanson in Quebec; Chansonniers.)