Two SOCAN Classics Awards recipients passed away in early January 2008.

Daniel Hétu, a pianist whose long career reached its apex in the 1970s and 1980s, died January 8 in Montreal at the age of 57. Known as a conductor for many popular Télé-Métropole (TVA) variety shows, he was the writer and performer of the hit song "Je t'attendais," which sold nearly 100,000 copies and for which he received a SOCAN Classics Award in 1999 marking more than 25,000 radio plays.

On January 5, the veteran Quebec singer-songwriter Michel Conte, whose signature song "Évangéline" was honoured as part of the November 2007 SOCAN Awards in both the Pop Music and SOCAN Classics categories, died at the age of 75. Conte, also known as the author of "Viens faire un tour," a 1998 SOCAN Classic widely performed by Renée Claude, had attended the SOCAN Awards in Montreal and expressed his desire to give a second life to his repertoire