Michel Bérubé

Michel Bérubé 

Born and raised in Ste‐Louise, a small village in Quebec, Michel moved to Montreal at the age of nineteen to study voice with Lucille Dumont before moving to Toronto to learn English and explore the city’s music scene. In Toronto he connected with a manager and producer who laid the groundwork to get Michel noticed. He began recording a demo Cd and performing in jazz clubs, on the casino circuit and even at the prestigious Town Hall in New York City, earning rave reviews and standing ovations everywhere. 

Even though Michel realized how difficult it was to get radio airplay, he soon learned two things about the Canadian radio business at that time, they had to play at least 33% Canadian content, and there was always a desire for new content for Christmas playlists. So, Michel independently released his version of O Holy Night to Canadian and U.S.A. radio and the results were impressive. Within days it had been added to Christmas playlists on stations from coast to coast and was getting rave reviews from DJs. 

Encouraged by this success, Michel decided to record an album of Christmas favourites entitled This Christmas. Thinking that the ever popular The Little Drummer Boy  /  Peace on Earth (originated by Bing Crosby and David Bowie) could work well with a female voice, Michel approached Grammy and Oscar Award winner Jennifer Warnes to see if she would join him on the song that would become the centerpiece of the album. Once she heard Michel’s voice on a demo of the song, she immediately agreed. 

Once again Michel had unprecedented success with glowing reviews, and four tracks from This Christmas were added to radio stations across North America. As well, Both EMI and Universal Music Canada selected songs from the album for inclusion on compilation Cds. 

After the success of This Christmas, Michel continued to record and perform, sharing the stage with the likes of The Faith Chorale, Jackie Richardson, Amy Sky, Steven Page and Kenny Rogers to name but a few. Famed fiddler Ashley MacIsaac, Canadian Jazz icon Guido Basso and popular Quebec singer Kim Richardson also joined him in the recording studio and his first mainstream single, Through Your Eyes was called “brilliant” by industry insider and Billboard editor (Canada) Larry Leblanc. 

While listening to an album by Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, Michel was impressed by  Safina’s Italian English duet with pop icon and Grammy winner Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders titled Aria e Memoria   /   We’ll Be Together. After receiving the publisher’s permission to adapt the Italian into French, Michel boldly sent a demo, on which Kim Richardson sang the female part, to Chrissie Hynde, asking if she would recreate her performance with him on his new version. Impressed by Michel’s voice and his French lyrics, to Michel’s delight, Chrissie agreed. 

However, by the time the song Laisse-moi t’aimer    /   We’ll Be Together was recorded, mixed and mastered, it was clear that the era of “Pop Opera” and powerful tenor voices on radio (Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli) had passed, so the song remained in the vault. However, when Michel decided to record an album of classic French favorites Hymnes à l’amour, he thought his duet with Hynde would be a perfect “bonus track” for his new album. 

Michel and his producer, Mark Lalama gathered some of Canada’s best musicians in the studio and together they reworked the song to have a much more contemporary pop sound and recorded the new instrumental track. With a driving beat and great musical and lyrical hooks, to say nothing of the distinctive voice of the wonderful Chrissie Hynde, Laisse-moi t’aimer    /   We’ll Be Together is a pop tune with true “rock roots.” 

Laisse-moi t’aimer    /   We’ll Be Together was serviced to French radio stations in Quebec and was quickly added to playlists, and the album Hymnes à l’amour garnered rave reviews for Michel, so much so that the full album was added to the in‐flight programming on Air Canada. To support the CD release, Michel mounted a tour of Francophone communities in southern Ontario that was extremely well received. 

Also in 2012, Jennifer Warnes asked Michel to join her on the Ontario leg of her tour to perform her Oscar and Grammy winning duet Up Where We Belong with her, making Michel the only singer other than Joe Cocker to ever sing this iconic duet with Jennifer. 

In 2013 Michel relocated to Prince Edward County and spent a few years focusing on renovating a 200-year-old house, but in 2018 he was back in the studio to record another original Christmas song A Wonderful Christmas. The song was also added to Canadian radio playlists and was covered the next year by famed Canadian tenor John McDermott who included it in his Christmas concert tour. 

Also in 2018, the research for, and development of The French Connection began, a multimedia concert featuring English pop songs that were originally French hits. Three workshops (piano/voice) of the show were presented in 2019 to rave reviews, but it wasn’t until post-Covid in June 2022 that Michel debuted a full production of The French Connection with a three-piece band at Picton’s Regent Theatre to cheers and standing ovations. 

Michel continues to look for opportunities to perform and hopes to bring The French Connection to more audiences in 2023-24. He and his producer are currently working on a Burt Bacharach tribute concert they hope to premier in 2024 titled Back-to-Back Bacharach. 

“An exceptional range and strong, flexible voice”
John Terauds, Toronto Star 

“I am totally blown away . . . Michel sounds magnificent... THIS IS JUST BRILLIANT."
Larry LeBlanc (Billboard Magazine) 

"Michel has such a lovely voice”
Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) 

"When I heard his voice, his fine, beautiful, gorgeous voice, that was it... he's great"
Jennifer Warnes 

"Bérubé’s versatile voice belts out a spine-tingling finish in Minuit Chrétien."
LUXE Magazine 

“clear, lovely and straightforwardly earnest…Bérubé’s voice is unfailingly warm and sincere”
Women’s Post Magazine 

“a fitting showcase for his sweet voiced talents”
Canadian House & Home Magazine 

“Bérubé’s voice is warm as a fireside”
LCBO Food and Drink Magazine