Robert Charlebois, an urban Québécois, first saw the light of day in Montreal on June 25th 1944. Born into an upper middle class family, he was sent to a Catholic school where he received a classical education and learnt the piano from an early age. During his adolescence, he felt the first stirrings of an artistic vocation, and at the end of the fifties he gave up his studies to devote himself entirely to the theatre and music.

He studied at the Ecole National du Théâtre in 62 and 63, where he met his partner-to-be, Claudine Monfette, known as Mouffe. Together, they began writing lyrics and stage shows. From the beginning, he divided his time between music and acting. When he was not yet twenty he had already been support act for numerous Montreal artists, including Felix Leclerc at the La Butte cabaret in 1962.

 1965: "Charlebois vol.1"

Charlebois’ career began to take off in 1965, when he staged "Yéyés vs Chansonniers", co-written by Mouffe (as always) and Jean-Guy Moreau, at the Totem. At the same time, he brought out his first album, "Charlebois, vol.1", which received the Best Record award at the Festival du Disque. The young artist quickly made a name for himself in Quebec. His energy, sense of humour and explosive, wide-ranging creativity were immediately praised. Struck by his talent, the great Québécois singer, Gilles Vigneault wrote several songs for him. In 66. Charlebois vol.2 was released and he began to play the Parisian cabarets. 

In September 67, together with Mouffe and Jean-Guy Moreau, he staged another comedy revue, at the World Trade Fair. But it was his show in September 68, "Osstidcho", which received rave reviews. In "joual" (a mixture of quécebécois street slang, Anglicisms and old French), "Osstidcho" means something like "One hell of a show". Living up to its name, this "happening" was a direct product of the extraordinary imagination of the young Charlebois. In 68, he also brought out an album with singer Louise Forestier. 

At the same time, outside the theatre, he was proving his talent as a songwriter. He returned from trips to the USA and the Caribbean in 67 full of new influences, a mixture of electric rock and Caribbean rhythms. He brought out no less than four albums between 65 and 68, the year of his first big hit, "Lindbergh", a duet with Louise Forestier. Now a fully-fledged star in his own right and firmly establish on the Quebec scene, Charlebois notched up a series of music awards: Grand Prix at the Spa Festival in Belgium in 68, the Felix Leclerc Trophy for "Lindbergh" in 69 and First Prize at the Sopot Festival in Poland in 70. 

Little by little, his popularity in Quebec spread throughout Canada. In 1969, he appeared at the Toronto Pop Festival, as support act for Steppenwolf. But above all, in May, he sang for the first time at L’Olympia, the prestigious Paris music showcase. His first appearance there, with Louise Forestier and the Jazz Libre du Quebec, will go down in the venue’s history. Reacting to the lukewarm reception the French gave his agitated, Québécois brand of psychedelic rock, he threw the drum kit into the audience.  

If Charlebois’ French career did not get off to a great start, back in Quebec he was going from strength to strength. His extravagant shows and outrageous ideas – rising out of a hydraulic float dressed as a golden angel - delighted Montreal. In 1970, along with Janis Joplin, Ten Years After and the Band, he was on the rock train that crossed Canada from coast to coast. He staged grandiose shows, each time in front of huge crowds, in the Place des Arts in Montreal, appearing in September 1970 dressed as an Indian chief. 1970 was also the year of his second hit written by Mouffe, "Ordinaire".  

After theatre and music, Charlebois turned to the cinema, playing in three films in 1969. His acting career, however, has always remained a secondary activity. 

Politically militant in his own way, Charlebois founded the Rhinoceros party, whose manifesto promised to promise nothing. He stood as a candidate in the 1969 elections, contesting the seat of the Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre-Elliot Trudeau. 

Symphony orchestras, opera singers, nothing intimidated him. In 1971 he performed the symphony, "Quand je serais mort" with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. 

In 1972, he brought out his first song in English, "The greatest idea". His English repertoire, however, was never to become large. He preferred to work in French, integrating cajun, the language of the French-speaking people in Louisiana, into his lyrics after joual. Also in 1972, he returned to L’Olympia where, in contrast to the 69 flop, he received a triumphal reception. This time round, the French adored his sense of humour and the hyper-creative decors. His success was partly due to the numerous hits he had one after the other in the early seventies: "Ordinaire", "Cartier", and "Conception". His new-found popularity in France led the following year to a European tour with Leo Ferre.  

He scaled down his numerous activities in 74 and 75, but continued to make screen appearances, including one with Miou-Miou in a film by the Italian, Sergio Leone, "Un génie, deux associés, une cloche". He did, however, take part in the memorable concert, "SuperFrancofête", on the Plaine d’Abraham in Quebec, alongside his "fathers", Gilles Vigneault and Felix Leclerc. 125.000 people came to the event, which gave rise to a famous live album, "Le loup, le renard, et le lion". But it is above all his sublime version, singing in trio, of the Raymond Levesque song "Quand les hommes vivront d’amour" which everyone remembers. 

He returned to the limelight came on June 23rd 1976. Along with Gilles Vigneault, Claude Léveillée, Jean-Pierre Ferland et Yvon Deschamps, he took part in a huge show on the Colline du Mont-Royal, in the centre of Montreal, in front of 300.000 people. The live album, "1 fois 5", won the French Académie Charles Cros Award. In November he was back in Paris at the Palais des Congrès for ten days. 

77 was another sabbatical year, spent roaming the United States in his Land Rover. He was back on stage again in 78 to promote a new album, "Cauchemar", with a series of concerts in Montreal in April. Then, in 1979, he left for another European tour, taking with him the American, Nanette Workman. They were in Paris, at the Palais des Congrès, from September 15th.  

At the beginning of the eighties, Robert Charlebois was working regularly with two lyric writers: the Frenchman, Jean-Luc Dabadie and the Québécois, Réjean Ducharme. But little by little, he turned to new wordsmiths such as Didier Barbelivien and Luc Plamondon. Also during this period, he and his wife, Mouffe, separated. Over the previous twenty years, she had written remarkable and memorable lyrics for him, such as "Ordinaire". With the new decade, Charlebois’ repertoire lost its irreverent and iconoclastic character. His career lost its hectic rhythm. Fewer concerts, less crazy creations than before, the man was mellowing. 

He re-built a family with his new partner, Laurence. Ecologist and pacifist, he became involved with international organisations such as Amnesty International. He worked less regularly, but nevertheless managed to bring out three albums in five years: "Heureux en amour" in 81, "Robert Charlebois" in 83, "Super position" in 85. In 83, he played ten days at L’Olympia before leaving on a European tour. In 84, he did film work in Quebec. However, from 85 onwards, little by little he retreated from the limelight. After his concert with Jean-Jacques Goldman in 86 in front of 25.000 people in Quebec, Charlebois left the musical stage for a while, not for the first time. Nevertheless, the singer who once brought out one album per year didn’t release another for five years... In 86, he cancelled a season of concerts at the Bataclan in Paris and subsequently only accepted to appear on stage on exceptional or original occasions such as the Fête de Saint-Jean in 88 in Quebec and a Moroccan tour in 89. Apart from bringing up his sons Victor and Jérôme, he also amused himself by appearing in two films: "Les Longs Manteaux" by Gilles Béhat, and "Sauve-toi, Lola" by Michel Drach, both in 86. 

He returned in 89 with a new album, "Dense". It failed to make an impact and it was not until 92, with "Immensément", that sales took off again. Recorded with the choir of the Paris Opera, but also with rock and blues musicians, the album recalled to everyone’s mind, public and critics alike, the singers previous work, a fusion of a host of influences. Amongst the lyrics, written mostly by his cousin, the poet, Jean Charlebois, there is one song by the Franco-American, David McNeil. 

In France in 93, "Immensément" received the Victoire de la Musique award for Best Album from the French-speaking world. In Quebec, he received a Felix award for the ensemble of his work. Charlebois used his re-found energy to create, "Cartier (the opera)", dedicated to one of the discoverers of Quebec, Jacques Cartier. The show made a huge impact during the 350th birthday celebration of the city of Montreal and the 5OOth anniversary of the discovery of America, on October 11th 1993. The same year, he embarked on a long tour, "La Maudite Tournée", which included the Casino de Paris. The live album of the same name was released in Quebec in 94 and in 95 in France. 

He received other awards apart from the Victoire de la Musique: the Prize of the Gouverneur Général des Arts de la Scène (Quebec) in 94, and the Médaille Vermeil de l’Académie Française (France) in December 96.  

But Charlebois was also talked about for reasons entirely different from music. He had become passionately involved in brewing, having bought shares in a brewing company from 92 onwards. Producing nine brands of beer, the brewery is quoted on the Quebec Stock Exchange, and is a competitor of the most popular local brands. Charlebois began to frequent festivals other than those devoted to music: gatherings such as the Euro-Bière in Strasbourg in France. 

In October 96, he brought out a new album in Quebec, "Le Chanteur masque", with lyrics written by Réjean Ducharme, Lewis Furey and Jean-Jacques Goldman. The disk was released in France on January 31st 97, where he went on tour in February and March before playing at the Bataclan in Paris in October. The tour continued throughout the winter of 97-98.  

The Canadian artist went back to Montreal in May 1998 for a concert at the Cabaret du Casino where he performed accompanied by 8 musicians. 

In 1999 he devoted most of his time to the creation and production of a musical tragedy entitled ‘Jean-sans-nom’ and inspired from "Famille-sans-nom’, one of Jules Vernes" obscure novels. His cousin Jean Charlebois helped him pen this epic show, while Gilles Ouellette wrote the music and Robert Lepage directed it. The show opened for the Printemps du Quebec festival in Paris.

That same year Charlebois also published a book entitled, "On dirait ma femme en mieux" ("She looks like a better version of my wife").

Slowly but surely moving back to music, the Montreal-born artist gave a few isolated concerts. In June 2000 he sang in Pully, Switzerland, and a few days later in Montreal for the Molson Regatta, a boat race event. Then, he took part in the Summer Festival in Quebec, performing with the band Oukoumé.

In 2001, he was expected in France for a few summer concerts that were eventually cancelled because of bad health.

In Autumn, Charlebois finally released "Doux Sauvage", an album that he penned himself—a thing he had not done since 1965. The album reflected the artist’s recovered confidence in his songwriting talent. Very intimate and nostalgic, it featured many country-folk ballads. In 2002 the singer scooped up the Felix Award for the Best Album at the Adisq. Then he set up on the road again to promote the album. After touring around Quebec, he stopped over in Montreal where he played at the Cabaret from March 27th to April 20th.

One of the highlights of the following year for Richard Charlebois was singing "Miss Pepsi" with Sophie Tremblay for the festival compilation in Petite Vallee, Canada (July 2003. Production - Onde, PDLCD-7182).

His tour has brought him back to Europe in 2004 : on the 12th of July he opened the Francofolies festival in La Rochelle in France, and after a little detour via Switzerland for the Paleo festival on the 24th of July, followed on with a string of French festivals, Ramatuelle on the 2nd of August, the "Festival du bout du monde" on the Crozon peninsular on the 8th of August etc. On great form and warmly received by his audiences, Robert Charlebois has as commanding a stage presence as ever.

The album "Doux sauvage" was released in France on the AZ label in the autumn of 2003. Charlebois went on to kick off his "Doux sauvage" tour in the spring of 2005. It included four dates in France and three in the Algerian city of Algiers. After a staggering 250 dates, the singer played a rousing finale at the Paris Zénith on 20 May, accompanied live on stage by Les Cowboys fringants from Quebec.

In February 2006, Charlebois’s first greatest hits album, "Tout écartillé", appeared in record stores. This double CD featured 35 songs ranging from tender, nostalgic ballads ("La Boulée", "Marie Noëlle" and "Je reviendrai à Montréal") to more psychedelic tracks ("Lindberg" and "California"). Fans looking for a more in-depth retrospective of Charlebois’s career were also able to buy a special collector’s edition featuring a massive 57 songs. Both editions of "Tout écartillé" came with a well-documented CD booklet liberally illustrated with never-before-seen photos.

After taking a few months off for a well-deserved break, the indefatigable Charlebois hit the road again, touring a new show. In February 2006, Quebec’s roving ambassador performed a series of concerts at the Cabaret du Casino in Montreal. Then, in May 2006, he brought the house down at La Cigale in Paris before doing the rounds of Quebec’s music festivals that summer. Accompanied live on stage by two drummers and three electric guitarists, Charlebois wowed audiences with a thoroughly rock performance. Indeed, his "Tout Écartillé" show got such an enthusiastic reception from the public and generated such good reviews that it went on to win three coveted Félix awards at the Adisq Gala in 2006 (winning Best anthology, Best lighting and Best sound).

"Charlebois au National - Tout écartillé", a live album and DVD recorded at the National in Montreal, was released on 17 October 2006. On 24 November, Robert Charlebois packed out the gigantic Bell Centre in Montreal.

In March 2007, Charlebois’s greatest hits album was released in France and, in April of that year, the singer hopped back across the Atlantic to perform his "Tout écartillé" show for French fans. His French tour included a series of dates at the Café de la Danse, in Paris. At 62, the famously wiry-haired star from Quebec proved he could still put on an impressively energetic performance live on stage. In April 2007, Charlebois returned to his homeland to continue a packed schedule of live performances there.

August 2007