In Hainsight: Canadiens Honor Legendary Les Cowboys Fringants Singer

The Montreal Canadiens have often been described as the people’s team, some of the fans even go as far as saying the Habs are their religion. In Montreal, and in many other places in Canada, the Canadiens are more than a team. In a 2009 song called “Le but” rappers Loco Locass said that the social tissue of Montreal was the Sainte-Flanelle (one of the many nicknames of the franchise) and never has it rung truer than last night. On Wednesday, the province of Quebec lost a monument of a singer when Karl Tremblay, lead singer of French-Canadian band Les Cowboys Fringants, passed away after a three-year battle against prostate cancer. A whole nation started grieving for one of their own and the Canadiens fully understood that.

Prior to the start of what would turn out to be a 6-5 defeat to the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the Canadiens paid tribute to Karl Tremblay like they had never paid tribute to an artist before. Back in 2016, when Montreal native Leonard Cohen past away, the team showed him on the jumbotron, asked for a minute of silence and played “Hallelujah”, but yesterday they went further than that.

The Canadiens’ voice Michel Lacroix resonated in the Bell Centre and said: “The Montreal Canadiens are mourning the loss of Karl Tremblay. The singer of the Cowboys Fringants has marked the Quebec musical scene forever, making the identity of our belle province vibrate. Tonight, we ask you to joint us in celebrating his life and his music, all together.” Then, one of the band’s greatest hits (Les étoiles filantes – The Shooting Stars) started playing and 21,000 people lit up their cell phone’s light and started signing along. 45 seconds in, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, a Quebecer, walked on the ice and hung a Tremblay 76 Canadiens’ jersey to a microphone stand with the spotlight on it. Those were three and a half minutes of goosebumps for the mythical band’s fans and everyone else, when the last notes were played, the Jumbotron showed a shooting star and then, another Tremblay 76 jersey hanging in the locker-room.

Visionnez la cérémonie complète en hommage à Karl Tremblay 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/O5DcEH8pGi

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 17, 2023

Perhaps some of the team’s fans from elsewhere wondered what the big deal was with this singer and this band, so I thought it was worth explaining. For over 20 years now, Les Cowboys Fringants have been writing and singing the soundtrack of Quebec. Over the years, they’ve covered serious issues like sovereignty, deforestation and climate change, sad issues such as suicide and illness but also happy topics, tales of great parties, of memories from our collective youth, you say it, they’ve sung it.

Karl Tremblay was also a big Canadiens’ fan, in the 2021 playoffs the band had predicted that the Canadiens would eliminate the Golden Knights in six games on June 24, 2021 (Quebec’s National Day) and they had said that if the predication came to be, they would be celebrating with a Facebook live of their biggest hits post win. As you know, that’s exactly what happened and that night, countless homes in Quebec celebrated the win singing and dancing to the Cowboys’ improvised show.

Three years ago, Tremblay found out he had prostate cancer, and entered a tough battle, but one fought with bravery. The band kept on playing, the show must go on as they say, but at his lowest of the low, Tremblay was fueled by his love of performing and by the people’s joy at their gigs. Last Summer, the Quebec Summer Festival was extended for one night so that the band could perform after their scheduled gig was cancelled because of the weather. And so, on a Monday night, 90,000 people came down on les Plaines d’Abraham to profess their love and support to the band and its leader.

Assis sur scène et « magané » (ses mots), le chanteur des Cowboys fringants Karl Tremblay montre tout son courage au #FEQ et donne tout, porté par 90 000 spectateurs. pic.twitter.com/BGnNuzCRGT

— Thomas Gerbet (@ThomasGerbet) July 18, 2023

Whether or not you agreed with the stance they were taking, it was impossible to deny how well their songs were written and how perfectly they were performed. Les Cowboys were openly pro-sovereignty and about as far politically as you could be from the Canadiens’ ownership group, but the organization knew it had to acknowledge the passing of a great man, a wonderful musician, and the voice of its people. Nothing can unite the people of Quebec as well as a Cowboys’ song playing at full volume. Last night, the Montreal Canadiens acknowledged that just like them, Les Cowboys Fringants and Karl Tremblay are part of the social tissue of their nation. They gave the people a chance to salute a legend and grieve for him before losing themselves in hockey, the one sport that has always been there through high and lows for Quebecers.

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