MONTREAL — Artists, politicians and devotees of the Québécois music scene flocked to a Montreal cathedral on Saturday to pay their final respects to Jean-Pierre Ferland, a folk music luminary whose French-language compositions made him a beloved figure across the province. The artist died of natural causes on April 27 at the age of 89 after several months in hospital. While the provincial flag flew at half-mast at the legislature in Quebec city, a formal funeral service at the downtown Mary Queen of the World Cathedral drew hundreds of mourners clad in yellow in tribute to Ferland's classic album "Jaune.
" The ceremony began with an urn containing the singer's remains being carried into the church to the accompaniment of a violin and cello arrangement of his 1968 classic song "Je reviens chez nous." Quebec Premier François Legault was the first to pay his respects. "Jean-Pierre Ferland was a genius with words and music, a genius that touched the lives of Quebecers," he said.
"I remember it like it was yesterday," said Legault, describing the impact of "Jaune." "I was thirteen at the time, and for us it was a revolution. It was just as good as the Beatles, but it was in French and it was a Quebecer.
" Mourners also heard from Julie Anne Saumur, Ferland's wife of sixteen years. "Jean-Pierre loved his fans, and I was his biggest one," she said. Fighting back tears and wearing a yellow flower on her lapel, Julie Ferland, the late singer’s daughter, described her father as.
