Duguay, Raôul

Websites:  https://www.raoulduguay.net/
Origin: Val d'Or, Québec, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Raôul Duguay (b. February 13, 1939, Val-d’Or, Abitibi-Témiscamingue) is one of Québec’s most enduring cultural mavericks—a poet, singer, trumpeter, painter, performer, and icon of the province’s countercultural imagination.

Raised in Abitibi in a large working-class family, Duguay lost his father at a young age and spent part of his adolescence in the Hospice Saint-Joseph-de-la-Délivrance in Lévis. It was there that he first immersed himself in poetry, sparking a lifelong fascination with language and sound. By the mid-1960s he was publishing his own work, including the influential collection Ruts (1966), which established his reputation as a playful, surreal, and experimental voice in Québécois literature.

The L'Infonie Years
In 1967, Duguay joined forces with composer Walter Boudreau to found L’Infonie, a sprawling collective that blurred the lines between music, poetry, theatre, visual art, and performance. L’Infonie embodied the restless creativity of Montréal’s avant-garde scene, producing manifestos such as Le ToutArtBel (1970) and four landmark albums before disbanding in 1974. Duguay’s role was central: his resonant voice, trumpet playing, and whimsical, phonetic wordplay gave the group its unmistakable character.

“La bittt à Tibi” and Popular Recognition

Striking out as a solo artist, Duguay released a string of albums through the 1970s, beginning with Alllô tôulmônd (1975). From that record came “La bittt à Tibi”, a rollicking folk-rock ode to Abitibi, its pioneers, miners, and musicians. Both comic and heartfelt, the song became an anthem of regional pride and one of the great classics of Québec chanson. It was later inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, ensuring its place in the national canon.

Duguay would continue recording through the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, his work ranging from political satire to mystical poetry set to music. He re-emerged with J’ai soif in 2010, proving that his voice—gravelly, spirited, and instantly recognizable—remained a vital force.

Collaborations and Influence
Duguay’s reach has always extended beyond traditional chanson. He collaborated with progressive rock group Maneige on their celebrated album Les Porches (1975), contributed music to films such as Les Fleurs sauvages (1982), and crossed generations in 2006 when Abitibi rapper Anodajay reworked “La bittt à Tibi” as “Le beat à Ti-Bi.” That collaboration introduced his work to a new audience and underscored his place as a cultural bridge between eras.

Poet, Painter, and Rebel
Beyond music, Duguay is the author of a wide bibliography of poetry, essays, and experimental prose, noted for its playful phonetics, humor, and inventive typography. His visual art—painting and sculpture—adds another dimension to his restless creativity. He is often described as a “poète rebelle,” a rebel poet whose language is inseparable from his politics: a passionate defender of Québec identity, sovereignty, and the vitality of the French language.

Legacy and Recognition
Over the decades, Duguay has received numerous honors, including the Félix-Antoine-Savard Prize for poetry and official recognition from the Assemblée nationale du Québec for his lifetime contribution to the province’s culture. More than half a century after his beginnings, his work still resonates in classrooms, concert halls, galleries, and festivals.

From the radical experiments of L’Infonie to the enduring chorus of “La bittt à Tibi,” Raôul Duguay remains a living symbol of Québec’s artistic imagination—a voice that is by turns playful, critical, musical, and profoundly rooted in the land that shaped him.
-Robert Williston