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Pierre Lapointe (born 23 May 1981) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His work largely follows in the tradition of French chanson, though he is influenced by modern pop music.[1] Defining himself as a "popular singer", he has built an egocentric persona of a dandy onstage, but says he does this mostly to deflect attention from himself.[2] His records have found critical and commercial success in Canada.[2] His regular tours in France ensured him a growing popularity as well as critical recognition.[3]
He began studying visual arts in 1999, but changed his program and started to take theatre courses at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe.[7] He left after a few months to focus on songwriting, but later returned to complete his studies in visual arts. While there, he entered a competition called Tout nouveau, tout show. Lapointe won the "Award for Songwriter-Performer of the Year" and the "Audience Award". He moved to Montreal and continued studying art at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). In September 2001, he came first in the songwriter category at the Festival international de la chanson de Granby.[8] In November 2002, he held two critically acclaimed shows in Montreal. In December, he received a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec which allowed him to prepare his first commercial album.[9]
In October 2005, he won a total of six Félix Awards: three on his own for Pop Album of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Art Direction of the Year, as well as three in conjunction with his collaborators, Jean Massicotte (for Arrangement of the Year and Producer of the Year) and Louis Simon Hétu (for Sound Technician of the Year).[17] In November 2005, the Académie Charles Cros awarded him the Grand Prix du Disque for French Song for his album, Pierre Lapointe.[18]
In March 2006, Lapointe released a second album, La Forêt des mal-aimés,[19] which attained platinum status in July 2006.[20] In October 2006, he received three more Félix Awards for La Forêt des mal-mimés: one for Songwriter of the Year, one for Pop Album of the Year and another in collaboration with Philippe Brault and Jean Massicotte for Arrangement of the Year.[21] On 28 October 2007, he won a Félix Award in the category of "Performance of the Year – Singer-Songwriter" for La Forêt des mal-aimés during the 29th ADISQ Gala.[22]
In April 2007, he joined Brigitte Fontaine in performing her song, La symphonie pastorale, at both the Printemps de Bourges music festival and the La Cigale concert hall in Paris.[23][24] He was also the recipient of the 2007 Rapsat-Lelièvre Award for La Forêt des mal-aimés, which the jury considered to be of "exceptional quality".[25][26]
In August 2007, Lapointe was joined by the Orchestre Métropolitain, with director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, to close the 19th annual FrancoFolies de Montréal.[27] He performed for a crowd of over 100,100 – the largest in the festival's history.[28]
He returned to the festival the next year, where he staged his new work, Mutantès, for four nights at the Place des Arts.[29] Featuring a futuristic stage production by Claude Poissant, the show tells the story of a mutant on his quest for happiness.[30]
Following the show's success, he reworked Mutantès into a studio album, releasing it under the title Sentiments humains.[31] He again went on tour, concluding at the FrancoFolies de Montréal in June 2010, marking his ninth consecutive appearance at the festival.[32] In January 2011, he released Pierre Lapointe Seul au piano, which saw him revisit earlier songs in a stripped-down form, featuring an unaccompanied Lapointe on piano.[33] 2013 saw two new releases: a studio album proper, Punkt, and Les callas, an EP of short compositions and rough takes.[34][35] In June of that year, Punkt was longlisted for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize.[36]
In July 2014, he appeared at the Francofolies de La Rochelle in France.[37] During this time, he hosted his own weekday radio show, Les Petites Morts, which was broadcast nationally on France Inter.[38] In the program, Lapointe discussed some of his favourite artists and featured guests such as Christophe, Christine and the Queens and Alexandre Tharaud. The exposure greatly increased his popularity in France.[39]
In November 2014, he released Paris tristesse in France and Belgium.[40] The album, recorded in Paris, consists of reworked songs from Punkt as well as covers of French pop classics. The album was later released in Quebec on 10 February 2015.[41]
He was a coach on La Voix, the Quebec edition of the international reality show The Voice, from its third to its fifth season, and returned in the eight season.[42]
Failed relationships are often the subject of Pierre Lapointe's songs, though he prefers to maintain a degree of ambiguity as to the relationships in question, allowing for more diversity in interpretations.[44] Another recurring theme in his work is death, which he believes has a far greater presence in music than either love or happiness.[45] With La Forêt des mal-aimés (Forest of the Rejected), he explains that it is usually the feelings of sadness and heartbreak that move an audience.[5] He strives to create a tender and melancholic atmosphere on stage.[45][46] Rather than tell a story through his songs, he aims to elicit images and emotions. Lapointe considers his work to be symbolic, mystical and surreal, as well as abstract and avant-garde.[44][46] His provocative words, which typically deal with sexuality, are a way to challenge the music industry, whose demands, he believes, have resulted in a culture of polite and acceptable music.[45]
Although he is out as gay, he tends to keep his personal life private and is rarely open about who he is dating.[47] He has, however, spoken out on occasion about experiencing public incidents of homophobia.[48]
Visual arts and choreography play a prominent role in Pierre Lapointe's work, given his background in graphic arts and theatre.[45][46] He works with dancers and many contemporary artists, particularly when producing music videos, and he often includes them on stage.[45][50][51]
Lapointe has been influenced by visual artists like Jeff Koons,[52]Takashi Murakami[52] and Montreal native David Altmejd, whom he credits as a major inspiration for Mutantès[44][45][53] In 2016, he collaborated with the French designer Matali Crasset, who designed the scenography for Amours, délices et orgues.[54] Having been introduced to the Bauhaus and Dada movements at a young age, several of his shows (such as Mutantès) give the impression of being performance art.[7][50] Lapointe has lamented the indifferent attitude toward contemporary art expressed in modern society and education.[51]
^ abcGomez, François-Xavier (9 February 2015). "Pierre Lapointe. Funambule". Libération Next. Archived from the original on 28 June 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
^Bernard, Nicolas (24 November 2005). "Grands Prix 2005 – 58ème Palmarès"(PDF). Charles Cros. Académie Charles Cros – L'abbaye. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
^ abcdefPasselègue, Valérie (11 September 2006). "Pierre Lapointe". RFI Musique. France Médias Monde. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
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