André "Dédé" Fortin (; 17 November 1962 – 8 May 2000) was a founding member, frontman, and guitarist of the Québécois band Les Colocs, formed in 1990.
Born in rural Quebec, André "Dédé" Fortin was the tenth of eleven children. After studying cinema at the Université de Montréal, he formed the folk-rock band Les Colocs in 1990. The band's music addressed serious issues such as poverty, loss of community, and drug dependence. Fortin was also an activist for Quebec sovereignty, campaigning for the "Yes" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum. The last LP from Les Colocs, Dehors Novembre, won the Félix Award for Rock Album of the Year.
Fortin struggled with depression and died by suicide in 2000. His legacy includes the renaming of a street in his hometown, a biographical film, and the Fondation Andre Dédé Fortin, which focuses on depression education and suicide prevention.
Early life
Fortin was born to Alfred Fortin and Gisèle Tremblay on a farm near the small village of Saint-Thomas-Didyme, outside of Saguenay, in 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.
Death and legacy
On 8 May 2000, Fortin died by suicide at his apartment. The day before, the Colocs manager Raymond Paquin had received a poem by Fortin. He published it posthumously in La Presse. Several years later, the remaining members of the band recovered a CD with the original song recorded from this poem by Dédé himself; they made their own version, which they released in 2009. For days afterwards, fans left flowers and messages in his memory at his building on Rachel Street, in the Plateau neighborhood of Montreal.
Fortin has been remembered in different ways:
- Saint-Thomas-Didyme, where Fortin was born, renamed Rang Saint-Henri as "Chemin Dédé-Fortin" in his honor in 2006.
- In 2009, a film about Fortin's life, entitled Through the Mist (Dédé à travers les brumes), was released, starring Sébastien Ricard as Fortin.
- A bande-dessinée (graphic novel) Dédé, illustrated by Christian Quesnel.
See also
- Culture of Quebec
- Quebec sovereignty movement