“At 60, I do what I want”: Sylvain Cossette wants to thwart death

BET À DAY

On May 8, Sylvain Cossette will celebrate his 60th birthday. For the musician, who is touring the province with his hit LIVE tour, this new milestone is less stressful than the arrival of the previous decade. . “At 60, I do what I want, I'm free, I have no agent, no record company. I am not attached to anyone. I am 100% my own boss. The 60 is just stability and confidence. » 

In an interview, Sylvain Cossette is not one to slip away. Newly grandfather, he exudes happiness and talks about all subjects with transparency. In a generous one-hour interview with Le Journal, he tackles death, illness, his professional and personal relationship with Andrée Watters and the success of his 70s projects head on. >and 80s.

From the outset, the new sixty-year-old tells us that he had a greater reaction when he turned 50. 

“Because I didn't really know what was coming ahead. I had just spent the big years [of the project] 70s. I wondered if I still felt like “rolling on the plank”. I had had health problems and all that. I had lots of questions. »

Today, the musician indicates that he no longer has any concerns.

« I did what I had to do. And I continue. I am far from retired. »

Because ICI Musique had asked him to host four programs of The music channel, Sylvain Cossette has decided to dive back into his 60 years of life. 

“It was a work of memory that allowed me to see that I had been through a lot more business than I thought, he said. I have an extraordinary life.

Very risky operation

Strangely, even though he has spent more than the last decade working on his 70s and 80s, Sylvain Cossette claims not to live in the past. 

” I live day by day. I never look back. » 

The singer appreciates his life even more today when he knows that he could have passed there, at the age of 47. At the time, it was discovered that he suffered from an inherited disease of the arteries, atherosclerosis. 

“Half my family has artery problems, explains he. Cholesterol is produced. »

Without surgery, his life expectancy was barely 70 years, he says. This was a worrying situation for the man who lost his sister Gaëtane at the age of 39 to heart problems.

The problem is that the operation to unblock his arteries was very risky. 

“Most of the doctors didn't want to operate on me. I found a “cowboy” who decided to do it, but he told me that there was a 20 to 40% chance that I would die on the table during the operation…”

“I don't feel like dying”

Fortunately, everything went well and Sylvain was then able to benefit from a new experimental drug for the arteries which greatly improved his condition. 

At 60 years old, Sylvain Cossette unhesitatingly claims to be a lot fitter than he was in 2011. What relationship does he have today with aging and death?

“It’s funny because we think we are invincible in life. When you are in your twenties, you tell yourself that you will never die or that you are too young. When my sister died, I was 28, I think. I became a man the next day.

“It’s weird, the concept of death. It's not that it scares me. But I'm not tempted to die. It's stupid because in my head, I'm always trying to figure out how I could outsmart this, death. »

Completely happy in his house in Mauricie, Sylvain Cossette relishes his new life as a grandfather. “I have fun in life. We are really good, my girlfriend and I. My daughters are well placed, they have their lives, their children. Life is good, everyone is happy. If we are happy… no time to die there! And as long as I die one day, I would like to die healthy [laughs].  

A peace and love life in Mauricie

It was during the pandemic that Sylvain Cossette and his spouse, Andrée Watters, decided to settle for good in Mauricie. 

“I had bought a small chalet on the edge of the Saint-Maurice River, an incredible spot, says Sylvain. In the past few years, we had razed everything and had a very minimalist Scandinavian house built with 41 feet of patio door frontage. It looks like we live in Norway, we really love our sight.

When the pandemic hit, the couple still owned a condo in Montreal's Griffintown neighborhood. But quickly, the stays at the chalet increased and they decided to sell their condo.

The couple have no regrets about their decision. 

“We have become a bit peace and love, says Sylvain of his life in Mauricie. It's okay because the two of us have been living 100 miles an hour from the start. Andrée was thrown into show business at the age of 23 and it was super fast. Me, I've been making music for 40 years, I've been on the road. I think it does us both good to settle down. »

Always together

Professionally, Andrée became Sylvain's entertainment agent a few years ago. 

“She is the one who coordinates everything I do,” he says. I don't want a manager, I take care of my own business. I make the decisions. Andrée receives the requests and comes to see me. We are a team, the two. She is there to make my life easier. We have no other employees. She does the job of five people! » 

The success of 70s and De 80s

Last February, Sylvain Cossette thought of putting an end to his LIVE tour, which brings together the best of his 70s and 80s projects, as well as Beatles songs and his own solo repertoire. But faced with the tireless demand, the singer decided to extend his tour.

“One morning, Andrée [Watters] told me that there were a lot of requests for extras, even if we wanted to stop in February. I told him to call two or three rooms to see if we could add an extension in March. She came back to me the next day to tell me that there were 26 more shows scheduled! There, we are made until
December 1st. [laughs]”

Sylvain cannot believe the success of his 70s and 80s shows, which have sold out for the past dozen years. The LIVE Tourapproaching 60,000 tickets sold. “In 2023, we still do 120 shows a year. There are people who come to see the show four or five times. It always surprises me. »

Brand of trust

Broadcasters across Quebec have also shown great confidence in him with his next tour, which will follow LIVE and whose concept is not chosen. “We are in 2025 [in the calendar], I think we already have about sixty shows scheduled, and the broadcasters don't even know what I'm doing! »

After celebrating the 1970s and 1980s in music, Sylvain Cossette will not continue his momentum with the 1990s, he says with a laugh. Rather, he is thinking of a string project. “It may have a different signature [from previous albums]. I'm thinking about that. »

 

Sylvain Cossette will present extras of LIVE the 19 and May 20, at the Cabaret du Casino de Montréal, and June 16 and 17, at the Capitole de Québec. For all dates: sylvaincossette.net