It was in Dunrea, Manitoba, that Daniel Lavoie was born on March 17 1949. The local French-speaking community managed to cling like a limpet in this small town in the middle of English-speaking Canada, hundreds of miles distant from Quebec on the eastern seaboard. Here Daniel, the eldest of six children, of whom two small Indian girls were adopted, grew up with his shopkeeper father and housewife mother who was a musician through and through. Daniel started the piano very young, and continued his musical education in a Jesuit boarding school at St Boniface, the French-speaking capital of the region. It was here, too, that he learned his perfect French.

As a young man he tried out medical studies but was not particularly keen. It was the sixties and rock music was exploding everywhere. Daniel was very attracted by this and gradually moved towards an artistic career. His musical culture was very anglophone, yet it was in French that he began his singing career.

In 1967, he won the singing contest in the "Jeunesse Oblige" programme on Radio Canada. This small success (he was the only competitor…) he spent the remainder of the sixties in a few groups, among which were Spectre, then "Dieu de l'amour vous aime", in 1969. As he would do throughout his career, Daniel Lavoie enjoyed taking a break from his career, going travelling for instance. Thus, in 1969, he went off to explore Latin America.

In 1970, Daniel Lavoie set off to conquer Quebec, which was the high spot for French song. As a beginner, despite his experiences with groups, he began singing in bars. He even went on a small tour with a group of musicians, which he called La Tournée des Grands Ducs and got to know the "Belle Province" (beautiful province). At the same period he again took a break to travel and went off to discover Europe.

One thing led to another, and in 1973 Daniel Lavoie recorder his first singles, " Marie comme", and later "S'endormir pour une rose" in 1974. However, these went unnoticed. The young singer found difficulty in identifying a repertoire, but nevertheless persisted in a direction he felt was his.

His first break came in 1975, with his first album "A court terme". But although this record marked his first success, it was only outside Canada. The track "J'ai quitté mon île" gained him a fair number of fans in France, while another song, in Portuguese, "Deixei Mihaterra" was a hit in Portugal and Brazil throughout 1976.

Success came only later in Quebec, with his second album, "Berceuse pour un Lion" in 1977. Daniel Lavoie finally made it to the radio stations. But it was later still, in 1979, that at long last the Quebec public clamoured for him and the album "Nirvana bleu". The tours multiplied and his fame at last took shape.

Once his career was launched, Lavoie made frequent transatlantic trips between Quebec and France, where his success was palpable. This was the case for only a small number of Quebec singers and other French-speaking Canadians. He starred at the Théâtre Montparnasse in Paris in 1980.

That same year, Daniel Lavoie brought out an album in English, virtually his mother tongue. He was not above tackling the English-speaking market in addition to the French one. But the other reason for doing this was the luxury of being able to do what he wanted when he wanted, without having to worry about the commercial aspects of his job. He was right: the album, "Cravings", was a flop. On the other hand, his tours were successful. At this time he performed at many venues in Quebec and Ontario, and also in France, where he gave a series of concerts at the Théâtre de la Ville in 81. A fourth album came out at this time, "Aigre doux". The year ended with the Félix for the best male singer of the year, a Quebec award which was the first in along series of honours which have regularly been his over the years since then.

In 1981, he was invited to the Bourges Festival in France, and also sang at Bobino music hall, Paris. In addition, he also went on a long tour in Quebec. After this, he worked for over a year on the album "Tension Attention", which came out in 1984. These long months of labour were rewarded, for two of the tracks on this album were hits, the title song, and, above all, "Ils s'aiment", which even today, is Lavoie's most popular song. It has been translated into several languages, and the single sold 2 million copies. Three Felix awards followed from this success in Quebec. He also presented this new hit collection at the Grand Rex in Paris.

Ever eager for new experiences, he sang in a musical show at the Spectrum in Montreal in 1984, called "Hôtel des rêves". The Quebec performances were followed by a European tour.

"Ils s'aiment" won Daniel Lavoie the Midem d'Or at the eponymous professional show in early 1985. Quebec awarded him the Félix for the most successful Quebec (or assimilated) artist of the year, and then France brought him the Victoire de la Musique for the best French-speaking album with"Tension Attention".

Despite a sabbatical year in 85, there was no respite for Lavoie, who returned to the stage in 86 to collect another assortment of awards, among which were the Jacques-Blanchet medal (Quebec) for the quality of his work, and the Prix Quebec/Wallonie-Bruxelles.

It was in London that Daniel Lavoie recorded his new album in 1987, "Vue sur la mer". Some of the lyrics were by Thierry Séchan Renaud's brother. This was another hit for Lavoie, who performed five nights in a row at the prestigious Olympia theatre, Paris, before a 21-date tour throughout Europe. Again, the awards abounded, with the Félix for the most successful Quebec (or assimilated) artist of the year, and the Victoire de la Musique for the best French-speaking album.

His fame spread from Canada to the USA, so much so that even Liza Minnelli invited him to her show in New York to sing two English songs from his album "Tips", which he had written for the Canadian market in 86.

In March 88 onwards, he began a series of shows on the same formula as the Olympia show at the Théâtre Outremont, Montreal, which lasted three months. At the end of that summer he was on the stage at the Montreal Olympic stadium for the mega concert in aid of the Rights of Man.

Success was again his in 1990 with "Long Courrier", an album whose track "Qui sait" was another hit. Again, he received a Félix for the best "Pop-Rock" album, and the Socan award (Société Canadienne des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de musique ) for popular music.

He was back in France in 1992 for a role in the Catherine Lara, opera, "Sans et les Romantiques", which was about the female writer George Sand. He played Eugène Delacroix, the painter. Then, after a show in the Francofolies festival in Sofia, Bulgaria, he sang in the Quebec Summer Festival in July 92.

In fact the year 1992 was again American. Lavoie brought out the album "Here in the heart", one track of which, "Weak for Love" was used for an episode of the TV soap "General Hospital". The American market opened its heart to the Canadian. He was very familiar with American and English music and his repertoire sparkled with references to the most elegant of Californian variety. While he was at it, he brought out another album of songs in English, "Woman to Man".

It was back to French songs in 1995, with the groovy album "Ici". He was now an artist with a career soundly based in French-speaking countries, and his cool style appealed to a wide public. In his 1996 live album, "Live au Divan Vert", he continued in the jazz vein. Also in 1996, he diversified into other musical directions with "Le Bébé Dragon", a children's album which again won a Félix. This was followed by "Le Bébé Dragon vol. 2" in 1997.

But the big event for Lavoie was his role in Luc Plamondon's superproduction, "Notre Dame de Paris". The lyrics were by Plamondon and the music by Cocciante, and it tells the story of Victor Hugo's novel. The world première took place in the Cannes Midem in January 1998. Lavoie plays the role of the priest Frollo, amidst a French-Quebec cast. The production quickly caused a stir and became a huge public and commercial success. Albums were sold by the million, and from September 98 to February 99, the shows at the Palais des Sports were sold out. In spring 99 the show moved to Quebec, where similar success is expected.

On the crest of this wave of success, Lavoie has made a solo comeback with a new album, "Ou la route mène", the first track of which is "Je pensais pas".

What’s more, he managed to find enough time to pen lyrics for other artists. In 2000, he wrote for Bruno Pelletier and Natasha Saint Pier, in 2001 for Luce Duffault, Lara Fabian and Roch Voisine. He also produced the records of Marie-Jo Therio, Louise Forestier and the Hart Rouge Band. As busy as ever, in late 2000, he took part in France’s album 3Christmas Together3, the proceeds of which were donated to AIDS charities. He also sang in the children album entitled "Un Tresor dans mon Jardin".

He took part in July 2001 in the opening show of the Jeux de la Francophonie in Ottawa; then in November that year, he reunited with his former band, who is now called NDP, and gave with them two concerts in Montreal.

In early 2002, Daniel Lavoie was selected for the part of Saint-Exupery in Richard Cocciante and Elisabeth Anais’s musical version of "Le Petit Prince." He performed in the musical until April 2003 when he turned his attention to his own solo career again, getting down to work on a new album.

The album "Comédies humaines" hit record stores in France in January 2004 and was released a few weeks later in Quebec. Lavoie wrote all the music for this new album and enlisted the aid of two renowned songwriters, Brice Homs and Patrice Guirao, to take care of the lyrical side of things. "Bénies soient les femmes," the first single release from the album, soon hit the airwaves. Meanwhile, the album received rave reviews from the critics.

In July 2004, Lavoie made a guest appearance at Francis Cabrel’s concert at the Francofolies de La Rochelle. Back home in Canada, the Summer Festival in Quebec paid tribute to the singer from Manitoba with a special Lavoie theme night where a host of stars including Marie-Jo Thério, Yann Perreau and Luce Dufault took to the stage to perform covers of his classics.

Kept busy with his roles in "Notre-Dame-de-Paris" and "Le Petit Prince," Lavoie had had no time to perform a concert tour on his own account. But he soon put this situation to rights, performing at the Auditorium Saint-Germain in Paris (4 - 16 October 2004). He went on to perform a series of concert dates in France and Quebec.

October 2004