| Éric Lapointe | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Born | 28 September 1969 Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, Canada |
| Origin | Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Pop rock |
| Occupations | Musician Singer-songwriter |
| Labels | Diffusion YFB Inc. Disques Gamma Ltée |
| Website | www.ericlapointe.com |
| Members | |
| Éric Lapointe Stéphane Dufour |
|
Éric Lapointe (born 28 September 1969 in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, Canada) is one of Quebec's most popular francophone lead rock 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 Quebec.
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Lapointe 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. Lapointe is not related to the Star Académie's second-season winner, Stéphanie.
Their father, Serge, worked as a Zellers manager and his family had to move many times. 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. She has been a strong supporter of his career from very early on.
At nine years old, Lapointe asked his father for a plastic guitar from a Sears catalogue. His father bought him a real guitar instead and Lapointe 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 Quebec and France at the age of 15.
At the age of 18, Lapointe joined the Parti Québécois and was discovered by Yves-François Blanchet (the president of l'ADISQ, the Quebec Record Industry Association). Blanchet also managed his early career. Lapointe cut his teeth on the local bar scene and CEGEP colleges. 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". Despite having little money, Lapointe organized a showcase at a popular bar called Club Soda for record industry scouts. Patrice Duchesne (from Disques Gamma) 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.
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, Lapointe 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.
Lapointe 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. In November 2004, Lapointe launched Coupable 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.
He won two Félix Awards 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 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.
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.
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).
During 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 "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 in 2005 and 2006. [1]
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.
Lapointe released the album Coupable (French for "guilty") a few weeks later. The album artwork features Lapointe 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 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. 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.
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.
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 and Isabelle Boulay for duets. The album contains fourteen tracks in all and has other duets with Dan Bigras, Nanettee Workman, Les Divans, and a trio with Garou and Claude Dubois. With Dion, they remade her 1991 hit "L'amour existe encore." Volume 2 was released later in 2009 and features all covers, including Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds."
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.
Lapointe'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?").
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: