Éric Lapointe is one of Québec's most popular francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

 lead rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 singers. His signature sound is characterized by very strong emotional lyrics, a rich, deep gravelly voice and the virtuoso guitar work by Stéphane Dufour. His sound caused him to stand out in contrast to the folksy, traditional sensibilities of his counterparts from 1994. However, his early music videos helped to build momentum in his career. He is now very well respected, having performed with most notable singers in Québec.

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Early life

Éric is the eldest of three children (he has two brothers, Marc and Hugo). Hugo is also a singer himself and started as a technician for his brother's band. Hugo has launched three albums since 2004. Éric is not related to the Star Académie

Star Académie

Star Académie is a Canadian reality TV series started in 2003, aimed primarily at the Quebec television audience, featuring an array of competing young women and men for the title of the best singer...

's second-season winner, Stéphanie

Stéphanie Lapointe

Stéphanie Lapointe is a Quebec singer, song writer, television and movie actress and humanitarian activist. She is best known as the winner of the second season of Star Académie, the Quebec version of Fame Academy....

.

Their father, Serge, worked as a Zellers

Zellers

Zellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise discount stores, with locations in communities across Canada. A subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company , it has 273 locations across the country....

 manager and his family had to move many times. By the age of 16, Éric had moved a total of 13 times. As a result, he was shy and reserved, had difficulty making friends and stayed close to his mother, Doris. She has been a strong supporter of his career from very early on.

At nine years old, a young Lapointe asked his father for a plastic guitar from a Sears

Sears Canada

Sears Canada Inc. is a retailer, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, that operates in all provinces and territories across Canada with a network of 196 corporate stores, 195 dealer stores, 38 home improvement showrooms, 108 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide home maintenance, repair, and...

 catalogue. His father bought him a real guitar instead and Éric soon learned how to strum chords thanks to the help of his uncle, also a musician. He wrote his first songs at the age of ten and started touring Québec and France at the age of 15.

Discovery and Recording of First Album, Obsession

At the age of 18, Éric joined the Parti Québécois

Parti Québécois

The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...

 and was discovered by Yves-François Blanchet

Yves-François Blanchet

Yves-François Blanchet is a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec, who was elected to represent the riding of Drummond in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2008 provincial election. He is a member of the Parti Québécois....

 (the president of l'ADISQ

Félix Award

The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...

, the Québec Record Industry Association). Yves-Francois also managed his early career. Éric cut his teeth on the local bar scene and CEGEP

Cégep

CEGEP is an acronym for , which is literally translated as "College of General and Vocational Education" but commonly called "General and Vocational College" in circles not influenced by Quebec English. It refers to the public post-secondary education collegiate institutions exclusive to the...

 colleges. To supplement his income, Éric worked side jobs as a pool installation technician, garbage collector, waiter and credit card salesman.

At the age of 20, Éric collaborated with Roger Tabra, writing his first hit single "N'importe quoi". Despite having little money, Éric organized a showcase at a popular bar called Club Soda for record industry scouts. Patrice Duchesne (from Disques Gamma) was impressed by Éric's talent and offered him a record contract. Gamma helped produce his debut album Obsession which was released in 1994. Aldo Nova

Aldo Nova

Aldo Nova is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and producer, Nova gained fame with his self-titled debut album Aldo Nova in 1981, and its accompanying single "Fantasy", which climbed to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.-Career:Signing with Portrait Records, Nova released a self-produced...

 produced the album, which caused some internal friction within the band.

Breakthrough and Rising Popularity: 1994-2000

Initially, local radio stations refused to play Lapointe's music due to its energetic and aggressive style. However, the video for "Terre promise (poussé par le vent)," his second single, helped trigger mass sales for the album. On 12 August 1994, Éric attracted a crowd of 45,000 people at the corner of Jeanne-Mance and Sainte-Catherine in Montréal. Obsession was later certified platinum with over 250,000 copies sold.

More Commercial Success and Awards

The singer then produced several other albums including Invitez les Vautours (1996, 180,000 copies sold), À l'ombre de l'ange (1999, 225,000 copies) and Adrénaline, a live album which sold as of 2006 nearly 200,000 copies. On November 2004, Lapointe launched Coupable and sold over 100,000 copies in its first few weeks. His first five albums were certified platinum and an impressive 900,000 total discs sold in 12 years.

He won two Félix Award

Félix Award

The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...

s for Breakthrough Artist of the year and for Best Rock Album at the Gala de l'ADISQ in 1995. He was nominated for five awards in all, including Best Male Artist of the year, Best album sales and best composer-author-performer of the year. He also received three record industry nominations. Lapointe was nominated three more times in 1997 and won his second Félix for Best Rock Album. À l'ombre de l'ange garnered the most awards as he won 5 additional Felix awards in 2000. Adrénaline also gave him a fourth Felix for Best Rock Album.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

 invited him to open their two Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 concerts during the Voodoo Lounge Tour

Voodoo Lounge Tour

The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by The Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album Voodoo Lounge. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman; he was replaced by Darryl Jones. The tour grossed $320 million, becoming the highest grossing tour of any artist at that time...

 in 1995 along with Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...

. They also played a concert at la Rochelle

La Rochelle

La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department.The city is connected to the Île de Ré by a bridge completed on 19 May 1988...

 FrancoFolies festival along with French artist Florent Pagny

Florent Pagny

Florent Pagny is a French musician. He has also acted in many French films. He records work in French, Italian, Spanish and English, and his greatest hits include "N'importe quoi", "Savoir aimer", "Ma Liberté de penser" and "Caruso" .As of 2008, he has sold 4,268,980 copies of singles,...

.

In 1995, he became the first artist to receive two Prix Miroir for Public's Choice and Best public performance during the same year, at the Quebec City International Summer Festival. He again won the Public's Choice award at that same festival in 1997 and 2000, becoming the first artist to receive 4 awards in the event's 30-year run.

He also received an award by Francophone radio stations for best song in 1995 for "Terre Promise". "N'importe quoi" was voted best song by the Québec public on Radio Énergie radio stations across the province. The same radio network also voted Lapointe's singles "Loadé comme un gun" in 1997 and "Mon ange" in 1999 as the People's Choice for song of the year.

Appearances on Film

In 1997, Lapointe released two songs: "Le Screw" (written by Richard Desjardins) and "Les Boys

Les Boys

Les Boys is a 1997 Quebec-made comedy film directed by Louis Saia. It has spawned three sequels and by any measure is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successful Canadian-made film series of all time.-Plot:The plot revolves around the players on a...

", written for the popular movie by the same name. In 1998, he wrote two more songs for Les Boys II: "Rocket" and "Alléluia". The soundtrack sold 25,000 copies in six weeks. He then produced seven additional songs for the soundtrack of Les Boys III including "Le Boys Blues Band". Released in 2001, this album sold 35,000 copies. Lapointe also performed a role in the movie in the role of Bruno, a friend of Léopold (Michel Charrette).

During mid-2006, Éric was contacted by Patrick Huard

Patrick Huard

Patrick Huard is a Quebecer actor and comedian.-Feature films:* 1997: J’en suis* 1997: Les Boys* 1998: Les Boys II* 2000: La vie après l’amour* 2000: Stardom* 2001: Les Boys III...

 to collaborate on his movie Bon Cop Bad Cop (Huard and Lapointe first collaborated on the movie set of Les Boys

Les Boys

Les Boys is a 1997 Quebec-made comedy film directed by Louis Saia. It has spawned three sequels and by any measure is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successful Canadian-made film series of all time.-Plot:The plot revolves around the players on a...

). The singer contributed a rock song called "Tatoo" which became an instant hit, bolstered by the popularity of the movie. He also played the role of a notorious criminal named Johnny "Le Chat" (The Cat) Charland in the Quebec television series Le Negociateur which aired on TVA

TVA (TV network)

TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...

 in 2005 and 2006. http://tva.canoe.com/emissions/negociateur/personnages.html

2000s

On 8 April 2002, he launched Adrénaline, a double-album containing 25 live tracks. He also participated in the compilation of Le Petit Roi, and was especially noticed for his interpretation of "Une chance qu'on s'a" by Jean-Pierre Ferland

Jean-Pierre Ferland

Jean-Pierre Ferland, OC, CQ is a Canadian singer and songwriter.-Life and career:Ferland began work with Radio-Canada in 1956 as an accountant, but his career there was short lived. Shortly after, he began taking guitar lessons with Stephen Fentock and began to fall in love with music, writing his...

.

Ironically, the singer released the album Coupable (French for "guilty") a few weeks later. The album artwork features Éric with his hands against a stone wall, the "arrest" pose. The album also quickly reached platinum status. The most notable hit was "La Bartendresse" which featured a video written by Québec actor Patrick Huard

Patrick Huard

Patrick Huard is a Quebecer actor and comedian.-Feature films:* 1997: J’en suis* 1997: Les Boys* 1998: Les Boys II* 2000: La vie après l’amour* 2000: Stardom* 2001: Les Boys III...

. Lapointe wrote the vast majority of this album.

On 22 November 2006, Éric released a greatest hits album called 1994-2006: N'importe Qui. It features both a CD and DVD compilation. The lead-off single is a remake of his first hit "N'importe Quoi", featuring an intimate version of the introduction accompanied by a grand piano. "Terre promise" was also reworked, featuring more distortion on the rhythm guitars augmented by Dufour's soloing throughout. Both tracks highlight the pronounced change in the texture of Éric's voice to its unique sound known today from when Obsession was first recorded.

In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the eponymous song of Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoung

Dennis DeYoung is an American singer, songwriter, musician and producer best known for being a founding member of the rock band Styx, a tenure that lasted from 1970 to 1999.-Early life:...

's album One Hundred Years from Now

One Hundred Years from Now (album)

One Hundred Years from Now is the fifth studio album from Dennis DeYoung.The album was initially released in Canada in 2007, with the first single being the title track, which is a duet in French and English with Éric Lapointe....

 as a singer and lyricist

Lyricist

A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...

.

Recent Work and Studio Albums: 2008-2010

On 22 April 2008, Lapointe's fifth studio album, Ma Peau, was released. Prior to its release, Dufour and Lapointe parted ways.

In his 2009 compilation album, Ailleurs, Volume 1, Lapointe teamed with Céline Dion

Celine Dion

Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

 and Isabelle Boulay

Isabelle Boulay

Isabelle Boulay is a francophone Canadian pop singer.-Biography:In 1990, some friends registered her at the Petite-Vallée song festival without her consent, but she completed a performance there and was regarded as a huge success. The following year she won at the Granby song festival for her...

 for duets. The album contains fourteen tracks in all and has other duets with Dan Bigras

Dan Bigras

Dan Bigras is a francophone rock singer and actor from Canada. He was discovered by Gerry Boulet in 1983, and his first album Ange Animal was released in 1990....

, Nanettee Workman, Les Divans, and a trio with Garou

Garou (singer)

Garou , from the French expression "loup-garou", which means "werewolf" and is a transformation of "Garand", his last name; is a Canadian singer from Sherbrooke, Quebec. He is known for his work in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris and the #1 hits "Belle", "Seul", "Sous le vent", and "La Rivière de...

 and Claude Dubois

Claude Dubois

Claude André Dubois is a Canadian singer-songwriter.Dubois was an early star of the francophone musical Starmania...

. With Dion, they remade her 1991 hit "L'amour existe encore

L'amour Existe Encore

"L'amour existe encore" is a song from Céline Dion's album Dion chante Plamondon. It was released as the second single in Canada and third commercial single in France ....

." Volume 2 was released later in 2009 and features all covers, including Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

's "Suspicious Minds

Suspicious Minds

"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James that, after the failure of his own recording, was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman becoming one of his most notable hits and a number one in 1969, "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned...

."

Éric also teamed with Marjo

Marjo

Marjolène Morin , professionally known as Marjo, is a francophone Canadian singer-songwriter.-Biography:...

 for a remake of her 1990 hit "Ailleurs" as a blues-rock ballad. It appears on her greatest hits remakes album Marjo et ses hommes.

Éric's latest studio album, Le ciel de mes combats was released 30 November 2010. The rocker's sixth studio album features a return of Roger Tabra as a writer and cowriter, Aldo Nova appearing on guitar, and the return of Dufour as producer. These songs deal with a range of heavy topics from friendship to suicide, including "Tu t'es laissé tomber" ("You let yourself fall") and "Où que tu sois?" ("Wherever you are?").

Notable Hits

Overall, Lapointe has had nearly 30 #1 hits on the Québec charts, which were either on Radio Energie network, Montreal's Francophone station CKOI, the Rock Détente network, or MusiquePlus

MusiquePlus

MusiquePlus is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media operating from Montreal, Quebec.MusiquePlus is devoted to music and music related programming from various genres including pop, rock, RnB and focuses on a younger demographic than its sister station, MusiMax...

:

• "N'importe quoi"
• "Terre promise (poussé par le vent)"
• "Marie Stone"
• "L'exquise"
• "Je rêve encore"
• "Deux fois la même histoire"
• "D'l'amour, j'en veux pus"
• "Bobépine"
• "Loadé comme un gun"
• "Les Boys"
• "Rocket"
• "Laisse-moi seul"
• "Rien à regretter"
• "On commence à s'quitter"
• "Mon ange"
• "Ma gueule"
• "Le Boys Blues Band"
• "Qu'est-ce que ça peut ben faire?"
• "Un beau grand slow"
• "Reste là"
• "La Bartendresse"
• "Coupable"
• "100 Years From Now"
• "Toucher"
• "1500 Miles"

Current musicians

• Stéphane Dufour – guitarist
• Mic Myette – guitarist
• Martin Bolduc – bass
• Bruce Cameron – keys
• Rick Bourque - drums

Studio Albums

• Obsession
  Obsession
  -Literature:* Obsession , a 1998 nonfiction book by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker* Obsessed , a 2005 thriller by Ted Dekker* Obsession , a novel by Jonathan Kellerman* Obsession, a 2009 novel by Gloria Vanderbilt...
  
   (1994)
• Invitez les vautours (1996)
• À l'ombre de l'ange (1999)
• Coupable (2004)
• Ma peau (2008)
• Le ciel de mes combats (2010)

Compilations

• Adrénaline (live album) (2002) (Platinum)
• Invitez les vautours (2002, Digipak re-release with DVD)
• 1994-2006: N'importe qui (2006) (Gold)
• Ailleurs, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (2009)

Soundtracks

• Les Boys
  Les Boys
  Les Boys is a 1997 Quebec-made comedy film directed by Louis Saia. It has spawned three sequels and by any measure is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successful Canadian-made film series of all time.-Plot:The plot revolves around the players on a...
  
   (1997)
• Les Boys II (1998)
• Les Boys III (2001)
• Bon cop, bad cop
  Bon Cop, Bad Cop
  Bon Cop, Bad Cop is a 2006 Canadian comedy-thriller buddy cop film about an Ontarian and a Québécois police officer who reluctantly join forces. The dialogue is a mixture of English and French...
  
   (2006)

Other Songs

• "À toi"
• "Alléluia" (De l'album Les Boys II)
• "Alléluia (Instrumentale)" (De l'album Les Boys II)
• "Ayoye!"
• "C'était l'hiver" (Groupes de Pamplemousse
  Groupes de Pamplemousse
  Groupes de Pamplemousse is a compilation album released during Suicide Prevention Week in Quebec, Canada. The songs tackle the issue of suicide, and benefits from the album help Suicide Prevention Centres throughout Quebec.-Track listing:...
  
   – 2008, Les Porn Flakes & Éric Lapointe)
• "Le boys blues band" (De l'album Les Boys III)
• "Le pitbull s'en vient" (De l'album Les Boys III)
• "Le screw" (De l'album Les Boys)
• "Les boys" (De l'album Les Boys)
• "L'exil" (De l'album Serge Fiori: Un musicien parmi tant d'autres)
• "Papa, pourquoi tu cries?"
• "Rocket (On est tous des Maurice Richard)" (De l'album Les Boys II)
• "Rocket (On est tous des Maurice Richard) (Instrumentale)" (De l'album Les Boys II)
• "Tatoo" (De l'album Bon cop bad cop)
• "Tatoo (Instrumentale)" (De l'album Bon cop bad cop)

External links

Éric Lapointe official site Lyrics to some songs Éric Lapointe on the French Wikipedia

French Wikipedia

The French Wikipedia is the French language edition of Wikipedia, spelt Wikipédia. This edition was started in March 2001, and has about articles as of , making it the third-largest Wikipedia overall, after the English-language and German-language editions...

Versions karaoke Éric Lapointe unofficial blog