Johanne Blouin

Canadian vocalist Johanne Blouin, born in 1955 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, to parents who were themselves musicians, displayed an early passion for the stage. After initial dance training at Montreal’s Royal Academy of Dance, she completed a B.A. in music at the Université de Montréal and later pursued musical-theater studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Her first professional opportunities arrived in the 1970s through cabaret appearances in clubs across Quebec and performances with the fusion group Tasman. She subsequently appeared in the cast of the musical Starmania, an experience that opened doors to solo engagements and session work for television. In 1988 Blouin issued her first album, Merci Félix, a tribute to French-Canadian folksinger and political activist Félix Leclerc; the following year she released her self-titled sophomore effort. Both recordings earned multiple ADISQ awards—Quebec’s equivalent of the Grammy Awards—and broadened her public recognition. In the years since, she has continued to record, issuing Everything Must Change in 2000 and Elle le Dira in 2007.