Réginald Charles Gagnon (7 January 1949 – 29 May 2024), known professionally as Cayouche, was a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian descent. Born in Moncton, he created Acadian French country music.
Early life
Career
Gagnon's performance moniker Cayouche stems from the US, where he says that people would tell him "You're not Acadian, you're Acayouche.". "Acayouche" later became "Cayouche."
Even before the release of his first album, a Radio-Canada team had noticed that Cayouche was already popular in the Acadian Peninsula. Even 25 years later, most people there know of Cayouche.<ref name="birth-cbcradio"/> His first album, Un Vieux Hippy, released in 1994, sold more than 15,000 copies in a fairly small market, and songs such as "La chaîne de mon Tracteur", "Export A" and "L'alcool au volant" became popular.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Cayouche maintained constant popularity throughout Canada and Europe, and is among the few popular Acadian artists in history to have sold over 100,000 albums.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Among his biggest hits are Export A, La chaine de mon tracteur, L’alcool au volant, Fume Fume, C’est ça mon Acadie and La reine du bingo. Gagnon, who later came to live in Maisonnette on the Acadian Peninsula, was the subject of the documentary film "Cayouche, Le Temps d'une bière" or in English: "Cayouche : Time for a beer” by Maurice André Aubin in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life and death
Gagnon motorcycled as a hobby. One of his songs, "L'Alcool au volant" (Drinking and driving) was created to warn others of drunk driving; in 2008, Gagnon was stopped by a Codiac RCMP officer and arrested and shortly released afterwards.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, he received charges of impaired driving and driving with blood alcohol content over the legal limit, receiving a $2,000 fine for the incident.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Gagnon died from cancer in Maisonnette, on 29 May 2024, at the age of 75.<ref name="radiocanada-death">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Discography
- Un Vieux Hippy (1994)
- Moitié-moitié (1996)
- Roule, roule (1999)
- Last Call (2003)
- Le rappel (2011)
- Les Meilleures Tounes (2019)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Filmography
- Cayouche, Le Temps d'une bière (2009)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
- Pour l'amour du country (2001–2012)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>