Dédé Fortin
| Dédé Fortin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | André "Dédé" Fortin |
| Born |
17 November 1962 Saint-Thomas-Didyme, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | 8 May 2000 (aged 37) |
| Genres | Folk rock, Ska/Reggae, Blues rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, violin, guitar |
| Years active | 1990–2000 |
| Associated acts | Les Colocs |
| Website | fondationandrededefortin |
André "Dédé" Fortin (17 November 1962 – 8 May 2000) was a founding member, frontman, and vocalist of the Québécois band Les Colocs, formed in 1990.
Fortin was born to Alfred Fortin and Gisèle Tremblay on a farm near the small village of Saint-Thomas-Didyme, in the rural Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. He was the tenth of eleven children. When he was eight, the family moved to Normandin, but he always valued his childhood home. Fortin attended public schools and studied cinema at the Université de Montréal with his friend Éric Henry.
Fortin was long interested in music and started writing song lyrics. In 1990, he formed Les Colocs, after meeting Patrick Esposito Di Napoli and a couple of the other band members. The music they wrote, recorded and performed was a folk rock sound, emerging from Québécois music, with a ska backbeats and several other genres of music. They released their first album in 1993 to great acclaim. Les Colocs' festive melodies often hid the more serious issues which Fortin addressed in his lyrics, such as poverty (Passe-moé la puck), loss of community (La rue principale), emotional dependence (Juste une p'tite nuite), or drug dependence (Tassez-vous de d'là). Fortin made Félix Award-winning videos for the group during this period.
He was a passionate believer in Quebec independence. An activist for the OUI ("Yes") campaign, Fortin worked to create support for independence during the campaign of the 1995 Quebec referendum. The band performed at partisan meetings. The death in 1994 of bandmate and friend Patrick Esposito Di Napoli from AIDS affected him deeply. Fortin struggled with depression during the following years.
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