Adam Gontier

Adam Gontier
Background information
Birth name Adam Wade Gontier
Born May 21, 1978
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Genres Alternative rock, acoustic rock
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1992–present
Associated acts

Adam Wade Gontier (born May 21, 1978) is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter. He is the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace.[1] Gontier left the group on January 9, 2013. In addition to his work with Three Days Grace, he has been involved in collaborations with other bands including Art of Dying and Apocalyptica. Since his departure from Three Days Grace, Gontier has begun his own solo band.

Early life

Gontier was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, on May 21, 1978.[2][3][4] He grew up in Markham, Ontario, with his mother, Patricia, and his father, Gordon. After his parents divorced, he moved to the Peterborough area, where he initially attended the Adam Scott Collegiate Vocational Institute. In 1995, he moved to the Norwood area, and attended Norwood District High School, where he met and befriended Three Days Grace members Neil Sanderson and Brad Walst.

Notable works and collaborations

Outside of Three Days Grace, Gontier has also written and collaborated with numerous writers, musicians and bands. Some of his collaborations include Daughtry, Ian Thornley, Max Martin, Shaun Morgan, Ben Burnley, Art of Dying, Before The Curtain, and fellow musician and long time friends Kevin Brown Grainne Ryan and Kim Brown.

He has also contributed to a number of other albums. He contributed vocals and musical arrangement on "I Don't Care" on Apocalyptica's album, Worlds Collide in 2007.

Gontier was also featured on the track "Raining" by fellow Canadian band Art of Dying on their album Vices And Virtues. His cousin Cale Gontier, is the bass player for Art of Dying. As well, he was featured on two tracks on the debut album of Peterborough band, Before the Curtain.

In 2006 Gontier was a member of the rock supergroup Big Dirty Band along with Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Jeff Burrows, Ian Thornley and Care Failure, covering "I Fought the Law", as part of the Trailer Park Boys movie soundtrack.

In 2009 Adam Gontier worked with Daughtry on their second studio album Leave This Town. The song, "Back Again", did not make the final cut.

In 2011, Gontier created the record label, Sludge Factory Records, and has signed three acts, one of which is fellow Peterborough band, Before the Curtain.

On January 9, 2013, it was announced that Gontier had resigned from the band due to non-life-threatening health concerns, later citing that "it was time to move on". He also went on to say that lately the music wasn't "coming from the heart". A recent interview with "Noise Critic Magazine" quotes, "Gontier's health concerns have slowly dissipated since his departure, and he has now started to focus on a new project. The change was a catalyst for his healing process."

Awards

Gontier has won two BMI pop awards as well as Billboard's "Rock Single of the Year". Michael Bell handed him the "Big Time Award", at the 2012 "Wire Awards". The award was won by fellow Canadian icon, Ronnie Hawkins, who in turn, handed the award to Gontier.


Personal life

Gontier married Naomi Faith Brewer in 2004. The couple divorced in 2013, with Adam revealing his engagement to Jeanie Marie in August 2014. They were married in March 2015.[5] His cousin, Cale Gontier, is the bassist for the Canadian band Art of Dying.

In 2005, he went into rehabilitation at the CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) in Toronto, where he wrote many of the songs for One-X, including "Never Too Late", which was co written by Adam's ex-wife, Naomi Faith Brewer. Both Gontier and Brewer wrote the video for the song, and she also appears in the video. While in CAMH in Toronto, Gontier wrote "Pain", "Animal I Have Become", "Over and Over", and "Gone Forever".[6][7] He is still sober, and a docu-drama about his addiction, Behind the Pain, was released in 2007.[6][8]

Solo career

Gontier joined singer/songwriter Martin Sexton on the road during his 2012 "Fall Like Rain" tour, providing opening support as a solo artist. He also joined Citizen Cope for a few shows as a solo act.

Gontier continued to do shows and concerts as a solo artist. Several songs have been released, but not as singles, such as "It's All in Your Hands", "Take Me With You", "Too Drunk to Drive" (written by Casey Marshall), "Until the End", "No Regrets", "A Beast in Me (Over and Over It Turns on Me)", and "We Will Never Forget". Gontier had previously performed solo songs like "I Will Stay", "Try to Catch Up With the World", and "Lost Your Shot" in 2011 and 2012.

In January 2013 in an interview with Loudwire, Gontier stated he was working on a solo album, and looked forward to releasing it sometime in the near future (late 2013 to early 2014).

In early March 2013, Gontier publicly announced and launched his Adam Gontier Solo Live Tour. The group consists of long time childhood friend of Gontier's Thomas RC Gardner on bass guitar, Rich Beddoe on drums and percussion, and Gontier's uncle, and lifelong friend and mentor, Tom Duffy, on lead guitar.

Gontier and his band performed their first show together on April 19, 2013 in Oklahoma City as part of the Ink Life Tour.

On May 11, 2013, Gontier released an official acoustic version and video of the song "Give Me a Reason" from Transit of Venus, which, allegedly, will be his final vocal performance of his tenure with Three Days Grace.

In June 2014, Gontier had been featured in a YouTube Vlog, much like his own videos on his own page, but this time on Kevin Brown's (Long time friend of Adam) YouTube channel. The video contained two acoustic covers done by Gontier and Brown. This had been the first official action of Gontier in many months.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Kelley, Trevor (January 2007). "Three Days and grace". Revolver (52): 46–48. ISSN 1527-408X.
  2. ↑ "Band Information – Three Days Grace Fan Club". Retrieved 2014-09-13.
  3. ↑ "Adam Gontier". Retrieved 2014-09-13.
  4. ↑ "Adam Gontier Discography at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved 2014-09-13.
  5. ↑ "Former Three Days Grace Frontman Adam Gontier Gets Engaged". August 1, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bliss, Karen (March 30, 2007). "3DG doc aims to help addicts". JAM! Music. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
  7. ↑ Wagner, Vit (November 28, 2006). "Saving Grace". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Adam Gontier on ''The Hour'' with George Stroumboulopoulos". Cbc.ca. February 20, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011.

External links