| Garou | |
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Garou on 13 June 2006 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Pierre Garand |
| Born | 26 June 1972 |
| Origin | Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Instruments | Piano, Guitar, Trumpet |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Labels | Sony Music Canada, Sony Music France |
| Associated acts | Daniel Lavoie, Patrick Fiori, Celine Dion, Marilou, Michel Sardou, Elizabeth Blouin-Brathwaite, Notre-Dame de Paris |
| Website | www.garouonline.com |
Garou (born 26 June 1972), 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 notre enfance". He currently holds the SNEP record for most weeks at #1.
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Born Pierre Garand, he began playing guitar at the age of 3 at the encouragement of his father (he also plays piano and trumpet). He went on to serve in the military and started a band in 1992 called the Untouchables. In 1997, he was discovered by Luc Plamondon while singing American blues tunes in a Sherbrooke bar. He was drafted by Plamondon to play the role of Quasimodo in his musical Notre-Dame de Paris, which made him a star in France.[1] After the musical, he launched a successful international pop music career in Quebec, France, and many other European countries.
His first album Seul became the best-selling French album of 2001 and remains one of the best-selling French albums of all time, achieving 2 million sales in Europe and going three times platinum in Canada.[2] The title track remains his best-selling solo single, peaking at #1 for 11 weeks and selling nearly a million copies.
He continued his string of hits with a live album and his sophomore effort Reviens in 2003. Sales for his third album Garou remained strong and he released his English crossover Piece of My Soul in 2008. The album debuted at #2 in Canada and #3 in France. Despite this, the album became his first album in France not to reach platinum status although it became his best-selling album in North America in seven years. His next album, Gentleman cambrioleur features cover songs in French and English and became his first album to miss the top five in France, where it modestly peaked at #35, staying on the charts for 17 weeks. His latest effort, Version Intégrale became another Top 40 hit in France.
Garou recently performed the Jean-Pierre Ferland song "Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin" (A Little Higher, A Little Farther) at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia.[3]
| Garou on stage 2009 | Garou on stage 2009 | Garou on stage 2009 |
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Garou has become well known for his collaborations. He has worked with Luc Plamondon in Notre-dame de Paris. The single "Belle" was lifted from the musical and stayed atop the French charts for a record-breaking 18 weeks. The single remained the most successful song in French history until 2009.[4] In 2000, he had a successful duet with Celine Dion. "Sous le vent" became his third number one single in France. In 2004 he worked with the legendary Michel Sardou for his fourth and final number one single, "La Rivière de notre enfance". The following year he appeared with 15-year-old singer Marilou on "Tu es comme ça."
He has also worked with several popular songwriters, including Jean-Jacques Goldman and Pascal Obispo. For his first album in English, Garou collaborated with some of the biggest names in music. The single "Stand Up" was written by Rob Thomas. He also sang the song "First Day of My Life", which was a big hit all over Europe in 2006 for former Spice Girl Melanie C, written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias.
Garou has a daughter named Emelie, with his ex-girlfriend, Ulrika, a former model. After they broke up he dated a former Iraqi singer and entertainer Arwa Jassem known as Lahlouba.[5] From 2007 to June 2010 [6] he was engaged to French singer Lorie.[7]
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Sales and certifications[8][9][10] | ||||
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| CA | FR[11] | BE[12] | CH[13] | PL | |||
| 2000 | Seul
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France: Diamond (1,553,500) Canada: 3× Platinum (300,000)[14] |
| 2003 | Reviens
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France: 2xPlatinum (582,200) Belgium: Gold |
| 2006 | Garou
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France: Platinum (217,000) |
| 2008 | Piece of My Soul
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Canada: Gold (50,000)[16] |
| 2009 | Gentleman cambrioleur
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| 2010 | Version Intégrale
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| Year | Title | Chart positions | Sales and certifications | ||||
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| CA | FR | BE | CH | PL | |||
| 2001 | Seul... avec vous
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France: Platinum Belgium: Platinum |
| Year | Title | CA | FR | BE | CH | Album |
| 1998 | "Belle" (With Daniel Lavoie & Patrick Fiori) | — | 1 | 1 | — | Notre Dame de Paris |
| 1999 | "Dieu que le monde est injuste" | — | 56 | — | — | |
| 2000 | "Seul" | — | 1 | 1 | 10 | Seul |
| 2001 | "Je n'attendais que vous" | — | 34 | 20 | — | |
| "Sous le vent" (Duet with Celine Dion) | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| "Gitan" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2002 | "Le monde est stone" | — | 27 | 20 | — | Seul... avec vous |
| 2003 | "Reviens (Où te caches-tu?)" | — | 9 | 10 | 23 | Reviens |
| 2004 | "Et si on dormait" | — | — | 2A | 85 | |
| "Passe ta route" | — | — | — | — | ||
| "La Rivière de notre enfance" (Duet with Michel Sardou) | — | 1 | 1 | 14 | ||
| 2005 | "Tu es comme ça" (Duet with Marilou) | — | 10 | 4 | 23 | La fille qui chante (Marilou) |
| 2006 | "L'Injustice" | — | 11 | 17 | 44 | Garou |
| "Je suis le même"B | 1B | — | 8A | — | ||
| "Plus fort que moi"C | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Que le temps" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | "Stand Up"D | 68 | — | 6A | — | Piece of My Soul |
| "Heaven's Table" | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2009 | "First Day of My Life" | — | — | 13A | — | |
| 2010 | "J'avais besoin d'être là" | — | — | 8A | — | Version intégrale |
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