Tribute from the artistic community 

- Listed in alphabetical order - 

 

12 new  added 12/31/2021 - More to come

These documents has been translated from french to english with Google translate

Richard Abel

When I think of Daniel Hétu, somewhere, I see a certain similarity with the great André Mathieu, because both have been underestimated and their great talents ignored by many. In the case of André Mathieu, it will have taken an Alain Lefebvre to make him known at its true value. In a completely different measure, I too wanted to make Daniel's immense talent known by offering him to make a Christmas album with a large orchestra. I can still see the sparkle in his eyes when I told him about the oboe (a magnificent instrument for which he hadn't written for so long ...), clarinet, flute, cellos, etc. He then said to me: "Finally, an album with real instruments! I'm going to have to bring out my pencil! ” Fate wanted it to be the last record he made before he left us. However, this same fate will give us great recognition: this disc won a Félix for the best instrumental album of the year. If my interpretation has anything to do with it, I am convinced that Daniel’s magnificent musical arrangements have greatly contributed to this recognition of the Industry. I would also add that the more beautiful the arrangements, the better the interpretation ... I continued to pay tribute to him at each of my Christmas concerts.

 

04/21/2010

René Angélil 

I got to know Daniel Hétu when he was a young conductor, considered a prodigy even, his musical studies had been so brilliant. He studied piano at the age of four and was named best organist in the world, in Japan, at 21 years old! He worked alongside me with René Simard and I used his talent thereafter on numerous occasions, notably for Ginette Reno, whose career I managed at the time.

 

So when I was presented with a Céline cassette singing "Ce n'était qu'un rêve (It was only a dream)", it was obvious to me that Daniel was the ideal musician to arrange and direct it. I have always had confidence in his immense talent, I knew that it needed a master to orchestrate this ballad which was going to serve me as a key to open the doors of the trade to a 13 year old girl with a unique voice.

 

Céline and Daniel had in common the fact that they had music in their skin from a very young age. He learned it from the greatest classical musicians here and she, gifted with a musicality from elsewhere.

 

Daniel left us too soon and no one replaced him in the hearts of Quebecers who loved his voice, his soft music and his natural romanticism.

 

04/19/2010

Jean Claude Arsenault

Hello Mr. Archambault, .e… .. hello Mr. Coutu !!!. This was how Daniel and I approached each other in front of the audience at the "Health and Prevention" meetings. It was during these encounters that I had the pleasure and the privilege of knowing and becoming friends with this being that I consider extraordinary. A deep friendship is not about how many years you have known someone, but rather how intense you have been with them. Daniel, this prodigy that I worked with for a few years made me discover his talents as a composer, performer, musician, musical arranger, musical director and so on, often ignored by many in the artistic world in favor of gossip and bad jealousy placed. In addition to sharing a good Bloody Mary with him after a meeting, we were talking about music because I had played the piano in clubs in Quebec in the 60s and 70s. There the comparison ends. You have to look at your career to realize my friend's immense talent. One evening in 2006, during a tour of Quebec, we were in Matane, unable to take the ferry to Godbout due to a serious storm. At the hotel there was a small bar with a superb grand piano. I then asked Daniel to play me real piano because he accompanied the tour artists with his pre-programmed keyboard !!!. The hour that followed made me appreciate the crazy talent as a pianist that my half Daniel had. Since his departure, unfortunately too quickly, I regularly look at photos on my computer which reminds me of good times spent with Mr. Coutu !!

 

Jean Claude Arsenault (friend) (17-03-2010)

* added 12/31/2021

Charles Barbeau

A word about Daniel

 

I worked with Daniel for several years on the TVA network, at the time better known as Télé-Métropole, on numerous television programs such as “Montreal en direct”, with Pierre Marcotte, the program “De bonne humor ”with Michel Louvain as well as the evening show with Michel Jasmin.

 

I was Daniel's regular keyboard player at the time. So he was my conductor, a position I held later in my career, and I learned all the ins and outs of the trade from him.

 

Daniel was an outstanding musician. Not only was he an exceptional pianist (he studied, like me, at the Vincent-D’Indy School of International Music) but he no longer had an incomparable ear. I often saw Daniel accompany a singer or a singer called at the last minute who arrived on the set without a score, without any audio document of his song, and Daniel with a big smile asked him to sing a little bit of it and he began to accompany him without delay, in the right key, with the appropriate nuances, as if he had had the score in front of his eyes Once this first "reading" was complete, he turned to the orchestra, gave us the key and the title of the song and we had to make do with that!

 

Daniel, being a very busy man, did not always have punctuality as a virtue. Sometimes she was late for rehearsals. Rehearsals he didn't really need anyway due to the magnitude of his talent. I've seen him shout a sheet music in his car on his way to the studio before.

 

Sometimes I replaced him during rehearsals because he couldn't make it on time. I am very grateful to him because I learned part of my trade this way.

 

I will always remember a day when I took his place at the piano for rehearsal and an opera singer showed up with his sheet music that I had never read.

 

It was "Le rondeau du Colporteur" (I remember the title very well….!).

 

I had, with difficulty and misery, managed to get out and do the camera rehearsals without too much fault. I had still performed the piece two or three times for rehearsals and was starting to "get hold of it."

 

When Daniel introduced himself, about an hour before the live recording, I told him about the material to be played for the show while specifying that the operetta piece was not easy to read at. vue and that if he preferred that I play it on the piano he had only to make a sign to me.

 

 

Well ... it was really bad to know Daniel Hétu.

 

When the host introduced the opera singer I was ready to lead from my keyboards to the piano when I heard the first notes of the intro .... played by Daniel on the Piano!

 

He performed the piece flawlessly, even allowing himself subtle nuances while coloring the score of "Chopinesque" flights!

 

That was Daniel.

 

A great musician with a great sense of humor. I have never laughed so much in those busy years of television. Unfortunately, around the 1990s, our paths no longer crossed. Work requires… ..

 

I would have liked to see Daniel again, but he left us so suddenly.

 

I keep, on the other hand, inexhaustible memories of those years spent by his side.

 

See you later, Daniel

 

Charles Barbeau (Conductor) (19-04-2010)

* added 12/31/2021

Richard Beaudet

Daniel was one of the greatest chefs I have had the chance to work with.

 

When I started my career as a musician, he was the first person to hire me as a saxophonist on a TV show (Les Tannants à Télé-Métropole).

 

We then became good friends. We played hockey together for several seasons and we bonded even more.

 

Daniel was an exceptional musician. His talent was extraordinary; he had perfect pitch and he was a very talented arranger.

 

He will have been, without a doubt, a turning point in my career and it is thanks to him that I have exercised this profession.

 

So, thank you very much Daniel for your friendship, your encouragement and your generosity.

 

Richard Beaudet (Musician, best saxophone for Daniel)

* added 12/31/2021

Jean Beaulne

Dear Daniel

 

Quebec has just lost a Great Talent. You have received an invaluable gift from God and you have been able to make it bear fruit.You have shown this gift as a musical arranger for the greatest Quebec artists and also as a singer, because you had an exceptional voice.You have had success in several television series and you have been able to get through difficult moments in this artistic environment.

 

On behalf of all these artists, I thank you for all that you have given us.

 

Thank you !! We will never forget you.

Léon Benier

 

Daniel and I were friends. As we were two pianists, we never had the opportunity to work together but I know, having heard him play that he was a great pianist and organist. Once I got sick and had to quit "Boubou" in the middle of rehearsal. Daniel replaced me on short notice without having done any practice with the artists and got off in an impeccable fashion. This is the mark of a good musician.

 

Léon Benier (Pianist and conductor, friend) (29-03-2010)

* added 12/31/2021

Denis Carignan and Carmen Cloutier

Daniel Hétu who we regret

 

It is a privilege for us to write a note about Daniel. We have had the chance to work with him about 30 times. As a musician, his greatest quality was always to make the artists they accompanied look very well. This by his unparalleled musical arrangements and also by his way of performing. In our shows, he accompanied Patrick Zabé, Jacques Salvail, Maxime Farago, Renée Martel, Tony Marsarelli, Paolo Noël, Guy Harvey, Claude Valade, Serge Laprade, Rosita Salvador, Pierret Beauchamp, Michel Stax, Hélène Laflèche (Les Milady's) Martin Stevens, Pière Sénécal, Christine Chartrand and I forget. In addition, he was a regular at the Festival Rétro de Joly, where we work. As a singer, people liked him. His big hits, his Youth Today and Elvis medleys were a dream to many people. On the human side he was a fragile being, a bit tortured as great talents often are. With his wife Diane we made the Quebec Chicoutimi trip together. He found the trip a bit long as it was non-smoking in our vehicle. We got close enough for him to tell us about his childhood, so we remember the great times we had together. He liked teasing and it was the same for us. We are very happy to have worked with him.

 

Denis Carignan, Carmen Cloutier. (Producers Festival Joly)

* added 12/31/2021

Charlotte et Hervé

What a musician, what an orchestrator, it is not because the circumstances lend themselves to it that the brilliant composer André Mathieu had qualified him as his best student. (Very young Daniel Hétu was the pupil of André Mathieu) musically speaking he is by far the most gifted pupil to have laid his fingers on the keys of this piano which however has already welcomed and heard many others he had said of him. How not to believe in his exceptional talent when the compliment  is addressed by such a monument.

 

No doubt that up there in the section reserved for musicians Daniel Hétu was chosen by his peers to conduct the Divine Sound Symphony Orchestra .

 

Charlotte and Hervé (Singers and friends)

03/2010

Marc Dupré

RIn the early 1980s, I spent the summer with my grandparents. I loved it because my grandma is the best cook in the world !! She was a good cook, a good grandmother, but especially the number 1 fan of Daniel Hétu !!! She didn't miss a Tannants show (show in which Daniel was the conductor) so every evening at supper time it was sacred… we ate while watching the Tannants. And if someone had the misfortune to speak while HER Daniel was singing, he would be reprimanded for sure !!! "We don't say a word when my Daniel sings chutttt" Many years later, at least once a month I still had this melody that came back to my mind "Je t'attendais (I was waiting for you)" and it reminded me of beautiful memories childhood! This song was so good to me that I decided to share it with the others ... .. and I interpreted it in my own way in one of my shows. Each time I saw lots of people singing it with me !! A hit is a hit !! When I went to do the Special Request program, I was asked if I wanted to do a duet… immediately I proposed a duet with Daniel Hétu, I thought that he probably wouldn't accept, but at my surprise I was confirmed the next day that it would be done !!!! I immediately thought of my grandmother who would be so proud to see her grandson sing with her idol 25 years later !!! It was an unforgettable moment…. And since that day Daniel I am your number 1 fan… .sorry number 2 after my Grandmother !!

 

Your friend Marc xx

04/22/2010

Maxime Farago    

My friend Daniel is gone but he leaves us his music which will remain magic, so many memories you have on his songs, the television shows where he was, who does not remember him? Nobody, I really had a great privilege in my life apart from having had Johnny Farago as father, I worked with the best pianist and good guy in the middle of Quebec artists, why should I forget it? Like my father, he sank into despair in this life of a great man forgotten because the media decided so! On television and on the radio, we don't make you hear what YOU want to hear ..... we make you hear what THEY want you to hear !!! And all this is managed by a small group of 6 people called THE HEARING COMMITTEE and it is they who decide what goes and what doesn't! When a big party ..... do they have no remorse? .... In the USA and in Europe it is different, we hear them still and always ... the big ones who marked the music, and Daniel was one of those and who was in addition THE musicians who allowed  good artists to be able to perform in a show with the best musical arrangements made by a Great ..... Daniel Hétu, my friend rest in peace, I will continue to spread your music through my shows my friend, Word of Farago. ..

Thanks Daniel

Sincerely Maxime Farago ... your friend

 

01/25/2008

 

-------------------------------

 

* added 12/31/2021 Like many Quebecers, I saw Daniel have his first shows on TVA, I was a little apart from others of my age, I listened to the shows that the older ones liked, music played a big part in my life and on a program of Pierre Lalonde l'Arti-show… I discovered Daniel and his band of musician, I found him to be sympathetic, then there was this record… .. I was waiting for you… .. I am surely the first boy in Quebec to have learned it by heart and have it in my repertoire which only had two or three songs !!! There were the Elvis competitions at "Montreal Live" and at the "Tannants" and I, who was a real Elvis fan, dreamed of going there and singing and being accompanied by Daniel Hétu !!!! It was only a dream!! A few years later my dream was going to come true, Roger Sylvain managed to get me to appear on Michel Louvain's program "In a good mood" ... by saying that I was the hidden son of Johnny Farago, under the name of Maxime Marshall j I sang “The way it used to be” by Engelbert Humperdinck and accompanied by Daniel Hétu himself !! My first appearance on television, my first sheet of music written for me, it was with Daniel that it happened, what luck!

 

I saw Daniel a few times afterwards but without getting close to him, he was a Star and I was the little guy who dreamed of becoming one! Until the day when Johnny and I were trying to put on a show in honor of the 20th anniversary of Elvis' death, Johnny then said to me, "I WILL ASK DANIEL HÉTU TO JOIN US AS THE CHIEF OF THE ORCHESTRA. ! " I said "DO YOU THINK HE WOULD ACCEPT?" »And he affirmed to me that yes he was quite certain of it, and …… ..Daniel accepted, my father was so proud and me as well as Daniel joined us for this tour which will have started on July 21, 1997 and not will be the only show to have been presented because Johnny suffered a heart attack followed by a brain aneurysm on July 29 the very morning we were all due to attend the Elvis Story play at the first table near the scene with our whole gang of our tour, on the 31st my father was unplugged from the machines that kept him artificially alive.

 

Daniel also did the lyrics to my father's song LE KING N’EST PLUS, my father had nothing but praise and even very good praise for Daniel.

 

Daniel and Diane then offered me their comfort and their support to deal with the media that bombarded me from all sides, we then decided to continue what we had started with Johnny and we presented a performance at the Francofolies de Montreal, Daniel was now MY FRIEND and my pianist and conductor for what followed for some time thereafter, the dust settled and there was a little unease that settled between us for a very personal reason for us and we were several months without having any contact together, I really regretted this time because I liked Daniel a lot, really a lot… ..

 

I saw him again a little before his illness and we had to renew this friendship somewhat, but it was still fragile since this little hitch did not target me and Daniel directly.

 

Today me and Diane have reconnected and I'm proud of it.

 

Today in my websites and in my shows I make room for my friend Daniel and by the same token I received from his wife the soundtracks of his own show that I can now sing again accompanied by him! ! So when you hear me sing a Daniel song, it's Daniel who will accompany me !!

 

Hi Daniel, I miss you my friend

 

I love you

 

 

 

Your fan, your friend, Maxime Farago (Singer and friend)

Pierre Harel

The unforgettable Daniel Hétu,

 

How many pianist musicians, polyinstrumentists, arrangers and composers can boast of having studied composition and pianistic interpretation with the great André Mathieu, nicknamed the "Quebec Mozart", one of the most important associated composers, like Rachmaninov, in postromantic school? How many accompanists of popular singers, with the known exception of my friend Scott Price the current conductor of Céline Dion, have pursued high level university studies in music? How many of all these musicians in the service of the glory and fortune of others have themselves tasted the success of having composed and performed at least one song that reached the highest peaks of French-speaking popular music scores in Quebec like in Canada?

 

THE PRODIGE CHILD

 

Daniel Hétu was a child prodigy in every sense of the word. At the age of four he started piano lessons with the renowned concert pianist and composer, André Mathieu, which could have influenced his choice to go later on to the "popular" rather than the "classical". Despite his international notoriety, this important creator who fell into oblivion was not doing much and had to give private lessons to survive decently. At the age of eleven, Daniel recorded his first 45rpm from one of his original compositions entitled: The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, which earned him the CKAC Grand Prize for Canadian disc children's section. At 21, Daniel represented Canada at the Yamaha International Organ Competition in Japan, while 28 countries were represented. He won first place and received the grand prize for "the best organist in the world". This is not surprising given that Daniel is the son of Lucien Hétu, famous songwriter and organist who sold more than a million albums during his Quebec, Canadian and international career.

 

A HARD WIN

 

Although he was recognized and highly appreciated for his work as an accompanist and conductor at Télé-Métropole (TVA) for major programs, although he was sought after by all the major international French-speaking artists coming to shoot in Quebec, although he has largely earned his living from his notorious musical virtuosity, and although he has managed to reach the top of notoriety with several of his famous successful ballads, Daniel bore in him cruel disappointment, to the Like his first master, André Mathieu, for not having been loved, admired, and recognized in Quebec for the depth of his genius as a composer and pianist in the field of great music called "classical". Like so many other Quebec artists who have received advanced training, possessing innate talents that would have called the greatest roles, the most prestigious exhibitions, the most important concerts, all over the world, Daniel Hétu had no other choice than to retain this ambitious dream to earn a living in a Quebec so large geographically and at the same time so small. His master André Mathieu, despite his precious talent and an important international notoriety having placed him among the greatest composers of the 21st century, did he not live an almost miserable life when they met?

 

FROM CLASSIC TO POPULAR

 

What he was able to sacrifice from great art to popular music was not in vain. He wrote the lyrics and composed the music for numerous songs that have made the happiness and pleasure of tens of thousands of Quebecers, and continue to do so. These days we often hear in a commercial ad at TVA an extract from the famous song which gave him a double gold record in 1977-78: I was waiting for you. I invite you to go to YouTube, to type "Daniel Hétu" in search, and you will be able to listen with pleasure to some of his beautiful songs today almost forgotten. "Everything goes by, everything gets tired", they say, especially when it comes to artistic popularity, isn't it? Poets and creators, whoever they are, have never had it easy ...

 

Good week.

 

Pierre Harel Column on Canoe.ca Tuesday August 9, 2016 10:23 am

Corey Hart

I met Daniel Hetu when I was a teenager living in Montreal. One out of a million other young kids with a dream of being a famous singer-songwriter one day.

 

Daniel would listen to my melodies carefully as I would perform them live for him on the piano. Those Demos with Daniel were some of my first ever recorded. He was a gifted pianist. His ability to interpret my songs with positive feedback gave me much needed confidence, I remember him fondly as a kind, dedicated musician. I consider myself fortunate to have had the chance to work with Daniel at such an impressionable age.

Peace

 

 

04/22/2010

Guy Harvey

Hello, I am not a great writer but I can surely say a few words for my friend, I should say, our friend Daniel, I worked with him several times when he sang it was perfect and when he accompanied us it was still perfect first Daniel was lucky, the gift of having an absolute ear, in addition he could compose it is not given to everyone else, on God is a Woman.

 

I had the honor of working with him and also the sisters of Céline Dion as well as Guylaine Tanguay and of course my son Pierre, what a great adventure, unfortunately it did not end for Daniel's taste and you have why ... what more can a pianist make jealous, we can say that we lost.

 

The pianist of Quebec …… .where you are Daniel there must surely be very beautiful melodies

Surely one day I will sing one or two with you.

Evan Joanness  

Like so many people, I first knew Daniel as a pianist and then as an excellent musical arranger, composer and singer. A person with an unwavering zest for life.

 

I am grateful for the friendship, the artistic complicity, the laughs, the anxieties of the profession and the musical knowledge that we shared.

 

He has often been a great help to me in carrying out my career plans. When Daniel was composing music for me, the lyrics of my songs really made sense, he always knew how to match music and lyrics to make my songs unforgettable. He was an extraordinary artist, a genius, a professional capable of writing music with his heart as well as with his head.

Unfortunately he didn’t have time to leave a legacy because of a ruthless illness that struck him down but he will still be alive in my heart.

 

A forever friend Evan Joanness.

Yves Lagacé

Daniel: a talented musician and a bon vivant.

 

Daniel, what memories you bring back to me!

 

Very young, we headed for Quebec, the automobile full of instruments. We are living in the present moment. We are on a mission: we are going to record a disc in a private house. What a challenge!

 

A few years later, it was our first trip to Paris. After a few days of working on French TV we absolutely wanted to see everything about this magnificent city. It was intense, very intense… What an adventure!

 

On the way back, it was the Télé-Métropole years. What luck !

 

Daniel, you lived like a Formula 1. Your sudden departure surprised and saddened us all.

 

Dear teammate, I salute you.

 

Yves Lagacé (Daniel's Drummer on TV) (17-02-2009)

* added 12/31/2021

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

Mario Lirette

 

Daniel Hétu ... A man, a genius, a musician, an arranger, a virtuoso, an accompanist, a composer, a concert artist, a performer, a singer, an artist, a pianist, Daniel Hétu was all that and much more .

 

Above all, Daniel was my friend, whom I regret having lost too soon. There are, and there will always be artists, but never more, there will be no Daniel Hétu.

 

Mario Lirette (sincere friend)

03/2010

Denis S. Pantis 

We know that Daniel is the son of Lucien Hétu and that he was a child prodigy. From a young age until the end of his life, music was his passion. What impressed me most about him was his preparation and professionalism, whether for television shows such as "Les Tannants", "De bon humeur" and "Un air d'été" as well as his arrangements for artists such as Michel Louvain (La dame en bleu), himself (Je t'attendais) and many others. He touched on all aspects of show business, from organizing shows to his own "Visa" label.

 

I will always remember his humility and generosity with his work mates, and especially his patience to complete his obligations at work. The Quebec musical world owes him great recognition.

Pierre Perpall 

Thank you, Daniel, for your talent as a musician, composer and arranger, thank you for the good person that you were, you left early, and I hope that your works will survive, your friend Pierre Perpall who enjoyed working with you.

 

02/04/2008

Daniel Piché

I got to know Daniel around 1070 or 1971 when I was still an 18-year-old beginner and we were both studying at the Vincent d'Indy School of Music. In his case, he already had a few records to his credit as a solo pianist and occasionally wrote musical arrangements for the artists of the RCA Company. He was already almost a star and at the very least a child prodigy. And I was very envious of having already a fairly established career in the "show business" of the time. I probably saw him larger than life but he was my idol and I hoped I could look like him someday. I wanted to write the arrangements, for my own songs, but I was just starting to read the music. Then gradually, we became friends and he invited me to his place so that I could play my songs for him.

 

He had (before everyone else) a studio-house in the basement of the family residence. I was impressed to have been admitted to his "music lab" as he liked to call it.

As he found my material interesting, he offered to record a demo (my first professional demo) which would possibly allow me to get a record deal. I obviously accepted. It was as if John Williams had invited me to his home no less. Then we got down to business. Me on the guitar and he on all the other instruments: Piano, bass, drums, organ, vibraphone and backing vocals… Wow! I was in 7th heaven. Finally, I had a recording that I could be proud of ...

 

Then, as I wanted to write arrangements too, he offered to give me lessons to share his knowledge with me. Which he did for almost two years, twice a week ...

 

I would almost venture to say that what I learned there has served me immensely and still serves me today. And that's, it is, what allowed me to enter McGill University to do my Masters in Arranging and Orchestration. And probably all of that would never have come to fruition if it hadn't been for him.

 

Ultimately, what I will take away from the character is that his talent was immense in every way. But like many great creators of this world, unfortunately, neither life nor the artistic community has ever recognized it at its true value.

 

But I know it and I remember it. Thanks Daniel!

 

Daniel Piché (Conductor) (13-04-2010)

* added 12/31/2021

Gilles Pinard

I got to know Daniel in 1974 and we worked together for a number of years. Daniel was the conductor most in demand with an exceptional talent he always managed to deliver the orders that were asked of him and this even if it was last minute requests because in this profession there are situations which are frequent.

 

We also shared certain activities like playing hockey.

 

We lost sight of each other for a while, Daniel being in the United States for work.

 

We got back in touch when he got back we talked and saw each other occasionally and it was always nice to see each other again, like two good friends.

 

Daniel was a person who loved life.

 

His passing was a shock to me and to many people.

 

I will always have fond memories of Daniel.

 

Friendships

 

Gilles Pinard (07-01-2009) (guitarist for Daniel on TV)

* added 12/31/2021

Guy Rhéaume   (Studio GR)

 

Animated by the desire to meet the best musicians of Quebec one day I was introduced to DANIEL HÉTU a young musician who works with his father LUCIEN. This project, intended to be a Christmas mic, showed me how talented Quebec is. Daniel played just about every instrument on the record, from piano to percussion. Some time later DANIEL came to the studio with the first synthesizer of the time, very innovative… .. it is in 1969. All the projects that we touched afterwards were successful, even the disc “ JE T'ATTENDAIS ”that we made together won a gold record. Hard worker our last project won a Felix for the instrumental album of the year and DANIEL was sick during the recording it was our last project together. Not only is Quebec losing a great talent, but I am losing a friend.

 

 

04/20/2010

Michelle Richard   

The passion that united me to Daniel is music.

 

Because for me better than anyone could savor his talent, could savor the arrangements he was refining for me and could savor the pleasures of life that I always have and he doesn't.

 

He was extravagant as I know it, he was intelligent as I would like to be and sensitive as I happen to be.

 

A very great artist and my evenings with him looked like an hour, his music that floated in the air at home he has always been and will always be irreplaceable.

 

04/20/2010

Guy V Robillard

To my friend Daniel

 

Here Guy V Robillard your director who has become your friend over time.

 

I knew you in the 70s, director at Télé-Métropole, Arti Show, Les Tannants, De Bonne Humeur

 

Daniel, talented, best conductor at the time the only one who wrote arrangements in no time.

 

1988 we lose sight of each other, because of your forced departure… ..

 

I retire some time later, I live near the river in the east, one day I walk on the cycle path, Bellerive track, I see a guy on a bicycle and it's Daniel, I shout Daniel is it you, he turns around, it was him, what a joy to find him again. It was like finding my son my brother, I don't know, there was no more job, no car, no money, he lived in a 1 and a half, but he accepted his life, always smiling, I l 'Invited for a beer at my house we discussed and shared different things. He often came back in the afternoon to chat. I didn't like him.

 

At the end of the summer his wife Diane Revena in the portrait he was happy, they rented the apartment upstairs from my cousin rue Gonthier in the east.

 

Daniel didn't like innocent people late ... He often growled.

 

Daniel had become a great friend to me and his Diane too, what a beautiful person, on her death Diane made me make a copy of Daniel's painting and gave it to me as a souvenir, thank you Diane.

 

Goodbye Daniel

 

Guy V Robillard (Télé-Métropole Director, neighbor and friend)

* added 12/31/2021

Pierre Sénécal

I knew him when he was 5 years old, he can't remember. When I found him, 15 years later, he was already a great pianist that all the conductors tore himself away from. A little later, we went up on the same stage, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier to accompany Ginette Reno.

 

It was him, the youngest, whom she had entrusted with writing his arrangements and directing the large orchestra and the choristers of which I was a part. It was fascinating the mastery he had. I was blissful in admiration. He never knew. However, we often worked together.

 

Today Daniel, I tell you. You know the rest. Daniel became a star. But that’s not what matters. Daniel is part of this very rare race, that of true artists. And I weigh my words. I would always be proud to tell people that just like him, I was born on December 1st. It's reassuring.

 

My dear Daniel, I renew my friendship to you.

 

Happy 25th and BRAVO

René Simard

Personally when I think of Daniel, the first thing that comes to my mind is that he was someone very positive, with him there was never a problem everything was possible.

 

We have traveled a lot together on tour in Quebec and the United States and I always felt confident and very proud to present him because he had an exceptional talent.

 

In addition, Daniel was extremely generous and his friends could count on him.

 

 

Guy St-Onge 

When I was 20, the name Daniel Hétu was synonymous with talent and achievement. I saw him on TV conducting his orchestra and he was an inspiration.

 

I've had the chance to get to know him a little more over the years and our relationship has always been cordial, we met each other at TELE-METROPOLE and in the studio.

 

One day, I went to Che-lui in Boucherville and when I saw his studio in the basement of Salt Residence, I saw that anything was possible. Family, child, home, studio and career… .. He was showing me the way!

 

Thanks Daniel.

 

Guy St-Onge (Conductor) (25-03-2010)

* added 12/31/2021

Manuel Tadros

Daniel was a friend. Because I spent a lot of time with him not only making music but being a listening ear to his life and he was grateful to me. We didn't take much seriously, that's true, except for listening to each other when it was time to do it. But we quickly returned to our laughs. Two children's hearts! It's like that!

 

I also wrote songs for Daniel (about 5) and coached him in the studio for his vocals. We had a lot of fun in those moments! It was good to see Daniel listening without too insisting on being right. He had that humility of talented and curious people. He was a great pianist with an exceptional ear. This talent has not been recognized enough in him. People are often blinded by success, but most of the time they forget the deep source of the being that begets it.

 

Daniel, you left too quickly. You may have enjoyed life well ... maybe a little too much elsewhere. We will not play ostrich. But the image of your naughty smile often reminds me of how sensitive, generous and friendly you were. Above all, don't forget to please on our music ... so that we don't play out of tune. It broke your ears so much !!

 

Your friend

 

Manuel Tadros (actor-singer, composer and friend)

* added 12/31/2021

 

 

Michel R Tessier 

It is always sad to learn the death of a good musician with whom we played. Personally, as a drummer, I have only a good memory of Daniel's professionalism and talent when I played with him and his father for a brief period in the 1970s.

 

01/29/2008

 

Shirley Théroux

One day this little Mozart (son of Lucien) arrived, his name Daniel Hétu.

 

My first meeting, Télé-Métropole on the Télé-Métro program, you came from a composition and writing internship in Europe… ..

 

you performed on the organ a piece that required a lot of dexterity we all fell in love and were impressed by so much talent ………

 

Like all great musicians in this world, you lived in the hope that one day your real talent as a composer would be recognized and that your musical would be performed on stage here at home in Quebec.

 

I had the chance to sing accompanied by you, always it was happy moments filled with pure happiness for my ears, and my heart.

 

Daniel, you the great romantic with sometimes abrupt exterior, you were able to move us and the Quebec public sincerely loved you.

 

Tender kiss

 

Shirley Théroux (Singer and friend)

* added 12/31/2021

These documents has been translated from french to english with Google translate

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