Les Cowboys Fringants

Formed in Quebec, Canada in 1995, Les Cowboys Fringants is a neo-traditional folk-rock band. Known for their eco-activism and politically charged lyrics, they are one of the longest-running acts in Canadian music. Composed of vocalist Karl Tremblay, guitarist Jean-François Pauzé, multi-instrumentalist Marie-Annick Lépine, bassist Jérôme Dupras, and drummer Dominique Lebeau, the group released a couple of self-produced albums before breaking into the mainstream with Break Syndical (2002). The album spawned the radio hit “Toune d’automne” and earned the band a Félix award for Best Alternative Album. They followed up with La Grand-Messe (2004), which featured the hit “Les étoiles filantes,” and the award-winning L'Expédition (2008), which topped the Québec charts. The success of Sur Un Air de Déjà Vu (2009) took the band on a tour throughout France, where they played three sold-out shows at the legendary Olympia Theatre. Following an invitation to play at the Paléo festival in Switzerland, the group released Que du Vent (2011), which reached number 60 on the French charts. Following a brief hiatus, Les Cowboys Fringants returned with Octobre (2015), another chart-topping effort that quickly became a fan favorite. In 2019, they joined forces with Le Cirque du Soleil for the Joyeux Calvaire show at the Cogeco Amphitheater, playing for packed audiences for an entire month. That same year, they released Les Antipodes, their first collection or original material in four years. Les Cowboys Fringants followed that album with 2021’s Les nuits de Repentigny. In 2022, vocalist Karl Tremblay announced that he had prostate cancer, and the band halted all activities while he received treatment. Tremblay died on November 15, 2023, at the age of 47.

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