Legault offers national funeral for Quebec music icon Karl Tremblay

If Karl Tremblay’s family agrees, the Cowboys Fringants singer will receive a national funeral, an emotional Premier François Legault announced Thursday morning.

Many Cowboys Fringants fans say they plan to gather across Quebec on Thursday evening to pay tribute to Tremblay, “the soul of an entire generation and a people.”

Tremblay died on Wednesday after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was 47. 

At 7 p.m., a gathering is planned on the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City “to honor the memory of a modern poet, a storyteller of our lives.”

On these same plains, the group gave one of their most memorable concerts last summer in front of 90,000 festival-goers at the Festival d’été de Québec.

Montrealers say they are planning to gather at Parc Jeanne-Mance to celebrate Tremblay’s life.

The organizers of both events, which originated on social media, say they hope the memorials will be held in a “festive and friendly” atmosphere to which “the Cowboys have always known how to invite us.”

They are inviting participants to bring along “your musical instruments, your joie de vivre and your desire to celebrate one of our greats.”

“Join us for a moment of recollection where the stars will light our way and each melody will recall the precious moments we shared thanks to Karl and the Cowboys Fringants. The stars fly by, but they never really go out,” reads a description of the Facebook events.

These are just two of many tributes expected to pay tribute to the life and career of the lead singer of one of the most influential musical groups in Quebec history.

At 8 a.m. Thursday, many music radio stations played “Sur mon épaule,” a song from the album “Les Antipodes,” in unison.

Flags will be flown at half-mast in several locations as a mark of respect, including in Quebec City, Montreal and Repentigny, the home of the Cowboys Fringants.

— This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 16, 2023.