Garou
The name of the French-Canadian pop performer, musician and actor Pierre Garan, acting under the pseudonym Garou, is familiar to fans of rhythm-and-blues around the world. Today the singer is actively touring, acting in films, participating in popular television projects. The reason for the success of Garou is not only in the undisputed talent and velvet, attracting the attention of listeners baritone. To some extent, it is also a series of successful coincidences. How did a boy from a Canadian province become a world star?
A brief biography of Garou and a lot of interesting facts about the singer can be found on our page.
short biography
The future celebrity was born on June 26, 1972 in the north of Canada in the city of Sherbrooke (about 150 thousand inhabitants). Pierre owes her performance talent to his grandmother, an ethnic Armenian who has taught him to sing from an early age. Parents also supported the makings of a young talent. In three years, the boy began to learn the guitar, at the age of five - to learn to play the piano.
After graduating from the Sherbrooke seminary, Pierre found himself in the Canadian army, where his love of music was also useful - he played pipe in a military band. Since 1992, after returning from the armed forces, a twenty-year-old musician began to actively perform in bars and on the streets of his native city. Despite the already certain fame in the music circles of Sherbrooke, the young singer is experiencing great financial difficulties and therefore has to take absolutely any part-time job.
In 1995, Pierre Garan organized his own group, called "The Untouchables". The team consisted of four people (guitar, trombone, saxophone, trumpet) and worked in the style of rhythm-and-blues. Over the course of several years, young people have been active in clubs and discos, performing the most varied repertoire - from the songs of Paul McCartney (by the way, Garu still continues to regard him as his idol) to blues and hard rock. Such performances brought little money, but, according to the artist himself, it was a real school of life that made him a professional musician.
1997 is the hour of the singer. At the concert "The Untouchables" quite accidentally got one of the authors of the musical "Notre-Dame de Paris" - Luc Plamondon, who greatly liked the timbre of Garou’s voice and the manner of its performance. Pierre was invited to audition, after which the singer was immediately offered one of the leading roles in the musical - the role of Quasimodo. From that moment on, the singing career of a performer from Canada began to rapidly gain momentum. Over the next two years, hundreds of thousands of viewers managed to watch the musical. "Notre-Dame de Paris" had tremendous success in Canada, France, England, Belgium and other countries. Aria "Belle" - turned into a real hit and for 33 weeks in a row headed absolutely all the charts of France. The result of Pierre Garan’s brilliant performances in the role of Quasimodo was the prestigious World Music Award, which was awarded to a Canadian performer in 1999.
After that, Garou becomes a world celebrity. In 2000, he acts as a hunchback already in the English version of the musical. At the same time, Garan is finishing work on the debut album "Seul", which will include 14 tracks. The circulation of the disc will be more than 2 million copies. In France, the disc will be "golden", and in Quebec - "platinum".
In just a few years, Garou is turning from an ordinary street musician into one of the most sought-after French-speaking performers on the planet. He is constantly invited to record joint projects. Back in 1998, Garan participated in the creation of the album "Together Against AIDS", and the following year he received an invitation to perform at the New Year's Eve show. Celine Dion.
Only in 2001, the singer gives more than 80 solo concerts. In subsequent years, in parallel with the active concert activities, the singer from Canada continues to work actively on the release of solo albums. In 2002, the disc "Seul ... avec vous" was released, which included several cover versions of popular works that were previously performed By Charles Aznavour and other celebrities as well as arias from "Notre Dame de Paris".
In the fall of 2003, another album by Pierre Garan comes out - "Reviens".
The next disc, which Pierre Garan calls in honor of his creative pseudonym - "Garou", is born three years later - in 2006. Famous poets and composers took part in the preparation of the album: Sandrine Roy, Silvan Michel, Pascal Obispo.
2008 is another significant stage in the work of Garou. With Robbie Williams, Rob Thomas and other musicians release their first disc in English - "Piece of My Soul".
In 2009, Garana is invited to play in a movie. The musician agrees and, according to critics, brilliantly plays the leading role in the film "The Return of Love" (director - Eric Kivanyan). At the same time as the filmmaker, the musician is working on another cover album. The collection "Gentleman cambrioleur" will include compositions from different years in English and French.
Once again, the name of Pierre Garan was sounded on the entire planet in 2010. February 12 at the opening ceremony of the XXI Olympic Games in winter sports in the Canadian Vancouver, he sang the song "Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin". In the fall, too, the musician releases his sixth record - "Version intégrale".
In subsequent years, the work of Garou continues to successfully evolve in several directions at once. In 2011, the Canadian returns to the role of Quasimodo, and also tries his hand at the show "Zarkana".
In the winter of next year, Pierre Garan is invited to TF1 channel. Now a world-famous performer becomes a mentor to young talents on the set of the French-language version of the television show "The Voice" - "The Voice". At the same time, Garou is working on his seventh disc, "Rhythm and blues".
2013 was marked by a Canadian trip to Jurmala to the festival "New Wave", where he sang at the opening, as well as the release of the next album - "Au milieu de ma vie".
2014: Garou - once again one of the mentors on the set of the third season of "The Voice". The musician also successfully tours in Russia. In the Russian capital, the singer writes the song "Du Vent Des Mots" together with the winner of the Russian version of the show "The Voice" Dina Garipova.
2015 is no less fruitful for Pierre Garan. In addition to successful tours in France, Ukraine and Poland, the singer takes part in the filming of the next, already fourth season of the show "The Voice", and in the fall again comes with a series of concerts to the Russian Federation.
The fifth season of the French version of the show "The Voice", which was filmed in 2016, also did not go without Garou.
Today, the singer continues to actively tour and delight his many fans with new songs.
Interesting Facts
- In childhood, despite his passion for music, Pierre Garan did not connect his future with the career of a singer, and dreamed about the path of the archaeologist.
- In the elementary grades, Pierre was considered a very diligent student, who was set up as an example to his classmates. But by the age of 14, the youth had a spirit of rebellion and disobedience. He became a member of a school rock band, often being rude to parents and teachers. Once the future pop star was even kicked out of the lesson, and ironically, it turned out to be exactly a music lesson.
- Stage pseudonym Pierre Garan received in his youth from his friends, who called him “Garou”, which translates from French as “werewolf”, because of his addiction to nightlife.
- In her younger years, due to the lack of money, the future star tried many professions. In order to feed himself and not depend on his parents, Pierre hired in grape pickers, worked as a manager in a clothing store and as a loader of furniture.
- After Garu was approved for the role of Quasimodo, he thoroughly studied Hugo’s novel “Notre-Dame de Paris”. The singer was just shocked by the book. He even wanted to give up the role of a hunchback, and the director of the musical "Notre-Dame de Paris" Gilles Maheu had to put a lot of effort into proving to Pierre that this role was his chance to become world famous. The future showed that the director was not mistaken.
- Arius Quasimodo "Belle" from the musical "Notre-Dame de Paris" performed by Garou was recognized as the best song performed in French in the last 50 years.
- In the fall of 2016, Garou sang on the set of the super-popular intellectual show "What? Where? When? ...".
- As you know, a talented person is talented in everything. Garu is no exception. In addition to his successful musical career, Pierre Garan also feels quite well in the role of restaurateur and businessman. In February 2016, the singer became the owner of his own cabaret restaurant "Le Manko".
- One of the most favorite ways to relax the Garou is fishing and boating.
- Without exaggeration, Pierre Garan can be called a multi-instrumentalist. In addition to the guitar, the musician is fluent in piano, organ and trumpet.
- Despite the fact that the Canadian musician starred in only one film - “Return of Love” (2009), many French critics enthusiastically speak of Garou’s acting abilities and compare him to such famous cinema personalities as Jean Reno and Gerard Depardieu.
- There are a lot of rumors in the press about the Armenian roots of the artist from Canada. In many sources, his name is even spelled as Garanyan. The singer himself tries not to comment on this information. If he is asked such questions, he usually laughs off and says that Garou in him has long prevailed over Garan, and by the name, Pierre, only the closest people can call him: mother, older sister, and banker. The father, according to the musician, still addresses him very affectionately - “son”.
Best songs
"Belle". Without a doubt, one of the most popular compositions performed by Garu. The singer so successfully managed to get into the role of Quasimodo that the story of the unfortunate hunchback can not leave indifferent millions of listeners.
"Belle" (listen)
"Sous le vent". The composition of the debut album" Seul "(released November 13, 2000) Lyric song in a wonderful joint performance of Garou and Celine Dion more than a month was kept in the first places of all the charts in France, which largely determined the success of the entire disc. Interestingly, Celine's husband, Rene Angelil, acted as producer of the first record by Pierre Garan.
"Sous le Vent" (listen)
"Gentleman cambrioleur". The song from the 2010 album of the same name tells the difficult story of a person forced to lead a double life: on the one hand he rotates in secular society, and on the other - the most common thief, but not without elegant and refined manners. Garu, who is always very scrupulous about the selection of songs for his records, preferring refined and elegant compositions, but is not afraid to experiment.
"Gentleman cambrioleur" (listen)
"L'amour existe encore". The work was originally intended for Celine Dion. However, it is an extraordinary success in the performance of the duo Garou and Selen Segara.
Personal life
Thanks to his natural charm and fascinating timbre of voice, a blue-eyed handsome man growing under two meters long has enjoyed success with the weaker sex. Millions of fans are crazy about Canadians. However, in dealing with journalists, Pierre Garan confesses that for some reason his personal life does not add up to him. Until now, Garou has not managed to find the one and remains a bachelor. True, in 2001, Pierre Garan became the father for the first time in his life. The daughter, whose mother is a Scandinavian fashion model Ulrik, was named Emily. As a result, the parents did not formalize their relationship, and then completely broke up.
For the past four years, the beloved musician is Stephanie Fourier, a model from Canada.
Garou’s popularity in French-speaking countries is so high that it is often in the French media that he is spoken of as a kind of deity, and they write that at last a man has appeared, comparable in its greatness to the emperor Napoleon. It is difficult to judge how permissible such a comparison. But the fact remains that the work of Garou continues to delight with its sincerity, penetrate into the hearts of listeners and awaken the best feelings in them.
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