Garou (singer) - Profile

Profile

Garou began playing the 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. 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. 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. He released Version Intégrale in 2010 which became another Top 40 hit in France and Canada.

Garou 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. He had previously performed the song with Celine Dion to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Quebec and received airplay on Quebec radio. He has also performed at the charity event Les Enfoirés for the past 13 years.

His latest effort Rhythm and Blues became his highest peaking album in four years. It is his second covers album and pays tribute to classic R&B music.