Serge Fiori, singer of Quebec’s Harmonium, was an uncompromising visionary and towering cultural icon

When CBS Records offered influential Québécois rock group Harmonium $1-million to re-record its songs in English, most of the band was in favour of the prospect. But chief songwriter and lead singer Serge Fiori said “non,” stopping the deal cold.

In the second half of the 1970s, the Montreal-based progressive folk-rockers were superstars in their home province, had success in the rest of Canada and parts of Europe, and were a rare Quebec band to achieve recognition in the United States.