Serge Laprade
From one friend to another ... who is no longer,
It is always easy to praise a missing person with compliments. What is less easy is to say the real things as they were perceived and what one could have told him while he was alive.
It is with this deep friendship, that I am about to give you the depths of my thoughts without low flattery and without interest other than that of describing to you, in short for obvious, the artist and the person I have known.
Like all of you from the public and the artistic colony who have followed Daniel Hétu's career since his beginnings, I have always recognized the artist's great talent. I unfortunately knew the person, only 11 years before his death.
Our friendship was brief, but intense. He told me almost everything about him and so did I, almost ... everything. So I can tell you bluntly that he had already decided for a long time to enjoy life, without limits. It was his right, his choice and it was his life after all. He probably paid the price. Wasn't he the son of the great artist who was his father Lucien Hétu? However, the artistic performances, both vocal and musical, were never in doubt, because Daniel was a great professional.
I was fortunate enough to meet him at a cocktail party in the fall of 1996. He was, I must say, going throuw a rought phase. You should know immediately that Daniel with his great sensitivity and exceptional talent could only live very big "high" and very big "down". Isn't it also very often the mark of the great artists of this world, These are characteristics which do not generally lie. So it was let's say his case. At that time work was scarce and he was aware that his star had turned pale, but his passion was intact, the conversation that we had at that time started a friendly relationship of the type "when it clicks, it clicks", which ultimately lasted 11 years. It was on this occasion that suddenly and humbly he offered me his services as musicians, voice, orchestrator and accompanist. He took the opportunity to introduce me to the woman of his life, his partner and manager Diane Juteau.
I took a few days to think about it and that's when we agreed to collaborate. From a first project, to an evening engagement, to another project and another engagement, we have come to know each other better and become inseparable. Our friendship only grew even if we had diametrically opposed styles, visions and personalities. This surely confirms that opposites attract each other.
So I learned who the being and the artist was ... probably him too. I therefore had respect for his talent and our amusing complicity at the level of the artist and I loved the individual for his generosity, his availability, sometimes even for an uneasiness that appeared on the horizon from time to time . Beneath the appearance of a mature man, in control of his emotions, hid a child's heart that made him move., Dear Daniel ..., that’s also friendship: listening and understanding. I knew I could count on him and he on me.
In November 2007, we had just completed a fabulous tour of shows in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, following a tour across Quebec a few months earlier. Like every year, I call Daniel the day before his birthday to offer him my wishes, December 1 being his date of birth and everything seemed to be going very well. Two days later or a few days later his wife Diane calls me to let me know that Daniel has just been hospitalized in an emergency and that this seems to be serious. At these times, communications are always difficult and the why and how are not always answered. This is often due to panic and the lack of information that is offered to loved ones themselves. So I don't insist and wait for the news.
A few days later, he is still under analysis, but I am informed that I can visit him around December 15. I find a friend in his bed, a little in disagreement, but still jovial. With his very particular humor, he tells me that he appreciates my visit and that he has plans. It's a good sign. The best clue he’s going to recover is from my point of view that he’s joking with the nurses (I won’t surprise you by saying that Mr. Hétu has always been very successful with the fairer sex). From one nurse to another he would say "Je t'attendais (I was waiting for you)" ... you know the song. Ladykiller and funny with that!
We all hoped that life would spare him, but unfortunately I could not pay him a second visit scheduled for Christmas Eve. He left us gently in the first week of January 2008. It was a great loss for all.
I will therefore keep an unforgettable memory of the gift that life gave me by rubbing shoulders during the last 11 years of his life, one of the best musicians of his generation, author, composer and performer and a being fundamentally in love with life, I will certainly never be ashamed to remember Daniel Hétu as a very talented friend who is sincere, sensitive, funny and human. I hope that his last dreams will be realized in recognition of a being and an artist who has left an indelible mark on Quebec culture.
We can reserve a "standing ovation" for his stay with us.
Goodbye friend,
Sincerely, your old friend Serge Laprade
Richard Abel
Jean Beaulne
Marc Dupré
Pierre Harel
Corey Hart
Guy Harvey
Denis S. Pantis 
Guy Rhéaume 
Pierre Sénécal 
René Simard