Eric La Pointe

Éric Lapointe (born 28 September 1969 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, Canada) is one of Quebec's most popular francophone lead rock singers, keyboardist, and occasional guitarist for his eponymous band. He has also made appearances on film. Characterized by a heavy metal style tinged with elements of punk, grunge, pop and hard rock from virtuoso guitarist's Stéphane Dufour's angular and muscular riffs, Lapointe's distinctive robust and gravelly voice makes for a convincing case of his dark and emotional lyrics. Known mainly in Quebec and Canada, Lapointe has released six studio albums, three compilation albums and two live albums. So far he is the most successful male music artist in French Canadian history in terms of sales, having sold more than one million total discs. This is an impressive feat given the market size of Quebec. His latest album, Lapointe Symphonique, is a live performance in Montreal backed by a full orchestra that was released in November 2011. Lapointe is not related to Stéphanie, winner of the second season of Star Académie. Biography: Childhood: Lapointe is the eldest of three children; he has two brothers, Marc and Hugo. Hugo is also a singer and started as a technician for his brother's band. Their father, Serge, was a manager for Zellers and his family often had to move. By the age of 16, Lapointe 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. At nine years old, Lapointe asked his father for a plastic guitar from a Sears catalog. His father bought him a real guitar instead and Lapointe soon learned how to strum chords thanks to the help of his uncle, who was also a musician. He wrote his first songs at the age of ten and started touring Quebec and France at the age of 15. Early career: At the age of 18, Lapointe joined the Parti Québécois and was discovered by Yves-François Blanchet (president of l'ADISQ) who went on to manage his early career. Lapointe started out by playing at local bars and CEGEPs. To supplement his income, Lapointe worked side jobs as a pool installation technician, garbage collector, waiter and credit card salesman. At the age of 20, Lapointe collaborated with Roger Tabra, writing his first hit single "N'importe quoi" ("Anything"). Despite having little money, Lapointe organized a showcase at a popular bar called Club Soda for record industry scouts. A representative of Disques Gamma, Patrice Duchesne, was impressed by Lapointe's talent and offered him a record contract. Gamma helped produce his debut album Obsession which was released in 1994.Aldo Nova produced the album, which caused some internal friction within the band. 1994-1995: Release of Obsession, rise to popularity: Local radio stations initially refused to play Lapointe's music due to its energetic and aggressive style, a stark contrast from folk-style sensibilities of popular Quebec music. However, the video for his second single, "Terre promise (poussé par le vent)," Promised Land (Powered by the Wind) found a new fan base and helped trigger massive sales for the album. On 12 August 1994, Lapointe further bolstered his acclaim by attracting 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. Lapointe's popularity and musical style also piqued the interest of The Rolling Stones, a feat unheard of for a francophone act. The Rolling Stones invited him to open their two Paris concerts during the Voodoo Lounge Tour in 1995 along with Bon Jovi. They also played a concert at la Rochelle FrancoFolies festival along with French artist Florent Pagny. 1996-2007: Continued success: Lapointe and his band produced several other albums including Invitez les Vautours ("Invite the Vultures," 1996, 180,000 copies sold), À l'ombre de l'ange ("In the Shadow of the Angel," 1999, 225,000 copies) and Adrénaline, a live album which sold as of 2006 nearly 200,000 copies. In November 2004, Lapointe launched Coupable ("Guilty") and sold over 100,000 copies in its first few weeks. His first five albums were certified platinum and sold 900,000 total discs in 12 years. On 8 April 2002, he launched Adrénaline, a double-album containing 25 live tracks that includes several covers. 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. Lapointe released the album Coupable a few weeks later, which quickly reached platinum status. The most notable hit was "La Bartendresse", featuring a video written by Quebec actor Patrick Huard. Lapointe wrote the vast majority of this album. On 22 November 2006, Lapointe released a greatest hits album called 1994-2006: N'importe Qui. In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the eponymous song of Dennis DeYoung's album One Hundred Years from Now as a singer and lyricist. 2008-present: On 22 April 2008, Lapointe's fifth studio album, Ma Peau (My Skin), was released. Prior to its release, Dufour, who had been the band's guitarist since before Obsession and Lapointe parted ways. The 2009 compilation album, Ailleurs, Volume 1 (Elsewhere) includes duets with Céline Dion, Isabelle Boulay, Dan Bigras, Nanette Workman, and Les Divans, as well as a trio with Garou and Claude Dubois. The Dion duet is a remake of her 1991 hit "L'amour existe encore" ("Love still remains"). A cover album entitled Volume 2 was released later in 2009. Lapointe also teamed with Marjo 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 (Marjo and Her Men). Lapointe's latest studio album, Le ciel de mes combats (The Sky of My Battles) 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 themes such as friendship and suicide. As of 2011, Lapointe collaborated with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to pull off a difficult undertaking in complementing his music, with the release of Lapointe Symphonique. Filmography: This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: formatting. Please help improve this section if you can. (July 2012) In 1997, Lapointe released two songs: "Le Screw" (written by Richard Desjardins) and "Les Boys", 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). In mid-2006, Lapointe was contacted by Patrick Huard to collaborate on his movie Bon Cop Bad Cop (Huard and Lapointe first collaborated on the movie set of Les Boys). The singer contributed a rock song called "Tattoo" 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 Négociateur which aired on TVA in 2005 and 2006. "Le Négociateur" (in French). Awards: This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: formatting. Please help improve this section if you can. (July 2012) In 1995, after barely bursting upon the Quebec rock scene, Éric Lapointe instantly left his stamp in people's minds and on the industry, being nominated for and winning a series of awards. Nominated for five Félix Awards in all, he won for Breakthrough Artist of the year and for Best Rock Album at the Gala de l'ADISQ. He was also nominated for Best Male Artist of the year, Best Album Sales and Best Composer-Author-Performer of the Year. He also received three record industry nominations. 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. Lapointe also received an award from 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. Nominated for three more Félix awards in 1997, Éric won his second for Best Rock Album. À l'ombre de l'ange garnered the most awards with five additional Félix wins in 2000. Adrénaline also garnered a fourth Félix for Best Rock Album. He again won the Public's Choice award at the Quebec City International Summer Festival in 1997 and 2000, becoming the first artist to receive four awards in the event's 30-year run. Radio Énergie 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. Singles: This list (which may have dates, numbers, etc.) may be better in a sortable table format. Please help improve this list or discuss it on the talk page. (July 2012) Overall, Lapointe has had nearly 30 #1 hits on the Quebec charts, which were either on Radio Energie network, Montreal's Francophone station CKOI, the Rock Détente network, or MusiquePlus: "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", The band: Current musicians: Martin Bolduc - bass, Rick Bourque - drums, Bruce Cameron - keys, Mic Myette - guitars, Stephane Dufour - Guitars, Past musicians: Adrien Bance - guitars, Stéphane Campeau - bass, Dennis Chatrand - keyboard, organ, Angelo Curcio - Drums (1999-2004), Stéphane Dufour - guitars (1994-2007), Tino Izzo - guitars, Aldo Nova - piano, keyboards, guitars