Joe Bocan is the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

of Johanne Beauchamp (born September 8, 1957), a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

pop singer and actress from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

."Joe Bocan: repartir à zéro"
''

La Presse is a French-language online newspaper published daily in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1884, it is now owned by an independent nonprofit trust. ' was formerly a broadsheet daily, considered a newspaper of record in Canada. Its Sunday edi ...

'', June 10, 2014. She is best known for her 1989 single "Repartir à zéro".

Background

Beginning her career in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

,"She's no ordinary Joe; Singer Bocan could revive Quebec's pop scene". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', November 22, 1985. she later began performing as a folk singer and won an award from the ''Festival international de la chanson de Granby'' in 1983."Fresh voice in Quebec music". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', January 22, 1986. By 1985, she was performing a regular show, ''Paradoxale'', at Le Milieu in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The show incorporated some of the multimedia performance techniques then being used by contemporaneous artists such as

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

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and

Jane Siberry Jane Siberry ( ; ; born 12 October 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known for such hits as "Mimi on the Beach", "I Muse Aloud", "One More Colour" and "Calling All Angels (Jane Siberry song), Calling All Angels". She performed the theme so ...

. In 1986, she was given her first television special on Télévision de Radio-Canada, and was one of the performers at Canada's first major benefit concert for

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

alongside Michel Louvain, Peter Pringle, Denny Christianson and

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

. During this era, she also had a regular acting role on the Quebec children's television series ''Minibus''. She won a

Félix Award The Félix Award ( is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian province of Quebec. The award The firs ...

for Best Pop Show in 1986 for ''Paradoxale''. Bocan also played the role of Carmen Sandiego in the French-Canadian version of '' Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?'' titled ''À la poursuite de Carmen Sandiego'' (Translation: In Pursuit of Carmen Sandiego) which lasted from 1998-1999.

Recording career

Her self-titled debut album was released in 1988, and spawned singles including "Paradoxale", "On parle des yeux" and "Repartir à zéro". She led the 1989 Félix nominations with 10 nods, but won only the award for best pop-rock show that year. The following year, she won the Félix for Best Female Singer. She followed up with ''Les Désordres'' in 1991,"Bocan sets out to reprise debut success; New album is more radical that first: singer". ''

'', September 19, 1991. and had another hit single with "Apocalypso". In this era, she continued to take acting roles in television series such as ''Piège infernal'' and ''La Misère des riches''. While filming ''La Misère des riches'', she met musician and actor Charles Biddle, Jr., the son of legendary Canadian jazz musician Charlie Biddle; they soon became a couple and later married. She released two further albums and a greatest hits compilation in the 1990s, and the children's album ''La Comtesse d'Harmonia fait le tour du monde'' in 2001. Her further acting roles included the films ''Meurtre en musique'' and ''

The Ideal Man ''The Ideal Man'' () is a Canadian romantic comedy film, directed by George Mihalka and released in 1996. The film stars Marie-Lise Pilote as Lucie, a successful magazine editor who feels her biological clock ticking as she has reached the age of 3 ...

(L'Homme idéal)'', and the children's television series ''Ramdam''. Following ''La Comtesse d'Harmonia'', she left the music business for several years, teaching theatre at the École des Arts de la Scène in

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

. She returned to music in the 2010s with a second children's album, ''La Comtesse d'Harmonia - Pour faire danser la terre'', in 2011 and a new adult pop album, ''La loupe'', in 2013. A longtime ally of the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community in Quebec, she debuted in 2015 as a radio host on

's new LGBT-focused radio station CHRF. She was cohost with Miguel Doucet of ''Les Pétards'', a daily arts and culture magazine show until the station discontinued its LGBT format in December. In 2020, Bocan, Marie Carmen and

Marie Denise Pelletier Marie Denise Pelletier (born 3 April 1960) is a francophone Canadian singer. She served as President of Artisti, a copyright collective for music artists operated by Quebec's l'Union des artistes (UDA). Biography While studying literature and c ...

announced the joint concert tour ''Pour une histoire d'un soir'', although the tour was delayed by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec was part of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported the hi ...

and instead launched in 2022. The tour won the

for Variety or Reinterpretation Concert of the Year at the 44th Félix Awards.Louis-Philippe Labrèche
"Les résultats du Premier Gala de l’ADISQ 2022"
''Le Canal Auditif'', November 2, 2022.

Discography

* ''Joe Bocan'' (1988) * ''Les désordres'' (1991) * ''Le baiser'' (1994) * ''Regards'' (1997) * ''La Comtesse d'Harmonia fait le tour du monde'' (2001) * ''La Comtesse d'Harmonia - Pour faire danser la terre'' (2011) * ''La loupe'' (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bocan, Joe 1957 births Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian children's musicians French-language singers of Canada Canadian LGBTQ rights activists Canadian radio hosts Actresses from Quebec Singers from Quebec Living people Canadian women pop singers Canadian women radio hosts 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses Félix Award winners