Michel Rivard

Born in Montréal in 1951, Michel Rivard first made his mark in the early 1970s in the theatrical milieu connected to UQAM before co‑founding Beau Dommage with Pierre Huet and Robert Léger, a central group in Québec songwriting for which he notably wrote "La Complainte du phoque en Alaska" in 1974. In parallel, and from 1977 as a solo artist, Rivard developed a songwriting voice rooted in francophone song, with folk and pop inflections, a strong narrative sense, urban imagery and a constant attention to spoken language and the intimate. His solo discography includes, among others, Méfiez-vous du grand amour (1977), De Longueuil à Berlin (1979), Un trou dans les nuages (1987), Le Goût de l’eau… et autres chansons naïves (1992), Maudit bonheur (1998), Confiance (2006), Roi de rien (2013) and L’Origine de mes espèces (2019), a project at the crossroads of song, autobiographical narrative and theatre. Rivard has also written for other performers, composed for Québec cinema and pursued an acting career on stage, television and film. Present on Québec stages for more than five decades, Michel Rivard works in a register that combines everyday chronicle, discreet humour and personal reflection.