Lucien Hétu

Hétu, Lucien

Lucien Hétu. Organist, songwriter, singer, b Ancienne-Lorette, near Quebec City, 8 Apr 1926, d Montreal 10 Jan 1990. He first studied organ 1949-51 with Georges Lindsay. In 1952 as a singer he won the grand prize of the CBC radio competition 'Les Talents de chez-nous.' He studied voice 1952-3 with Paul DuBois and organ 1954-5 with Germaine Janelle. In 1953 he sang and was co-host on the CKAC radio program 'Sans tambour ni trompette.' As a songwriter he took part in the CBC French network's 'Concours de la chanson canadienne'; his songs 'Parc Lafontaine,' 'Compagnon de route,' 'La Madone,' 'Pourtant je l'aime,' and 'Vague à l'âme' made an impression at this competition. He then became known chiefly as an organist and in this capacity he directed the opening of CFTM-TV in 1961. Some of the songs from his 1968 recital with his son Daniel at the Comédie-Canadienne were released on an RCA LP (Gala CGPS-295). Father and son also toured Canada that year as singer and pianist, and in 1969 they appeared at the PDA.

The Montreal Festival du disque awarded Hétu two trophies in 1968, one as a performer and another for successful sales of his records. In 1970 he received a gold record for the highest sales of the year. He appeared in Paris in 1965, Switzerland in 1968, and Japan in 1970. He made some 30 LPs for RCA Victor, as well as some for Visa. Most of his recordings are of dance music or music for festive occasions. In 1978 for Reader's Digest he produced a set of six LPs entitled Les Mille Visages de l'orgue (RCA), in which he performed 72 old and new hit tunes. He also recorded several of Marc Gélinas's hits for the LPs La Ronde (Harmonie HF-90140) and Marc Gélinas: ses chansons interprétées à l'orgue (Jupiter JPL-11009).