Garou in Concert
The singer known as Garou was born Pierre Garand in Sherbrooke, Quebec. While singing blues tunes at a bar gig in 1997, he was discovered by entertainment impresario Luc Plamondon. Transfixed by Garand's rich baritone, Plamondon offered the singer a life-changing opportunity: the starring role of Quasimodo in a hit international touring production of the musical Notre Dame de Paris.
With the play's centerpiece song, "Belle," becoming a massive hit in France and Belgium, Garou (a riff on his surname and the French "loup-garou," or "werewolf") earned Quebec's Félix Award for best new artist in 1999. He then embarked on a fruitful musical career under the guidance of manager René Angélil, otherwise known as Céline Dion's husband.
Garou's 2000 debut, Seul, featured a star-boosting duet with the Titanic diva on the soft-focus acoustic ballad "Sous le vent," one of a handful of hit singles that propelled the album to No. 1 in Quebec and No. 2 across Canada, while spurring sales of 2 million copies in Europe as well.
Since then, Garou has adhered to his crowd-pleasing mix of gently rocking anthems and dramatic serenades, but has continued to expand his reach. In 2008, he released his first English-language album, Piece of My Soul, which featured songwriting contributions from Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 (the rousing rocker "Stand Up") and a reverential piano-based reading of "First Day of My Life," previously a hit for Spice Girl Melanie C.
Garou clearly relishes the opportunity to make a popular song his own: for 2009's all-covers collection Gentleman Cambrioleur, he used his smoky pipes to perform Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and U2's "New Year's Day." The 2012 album Rhythm and Blues marked a return to his bar-band roots via songs by Otis Redding and The Black Keys. But no matter if he's crooning a smooth adult-contemporary ballad or belting out a gritty blues number, Garou's husky voice is a wonder to behold.