Active between 1996 and 2000, Alliage was one of France's best-known boy bands. Composed of singers and dancers Steven Gunnell, Roman Lata Ares, Brian Torres and Quentin Elias, whose different origins explain the group's name, Alliage was formed by producer Gérard Louvin and enjoyed immediate success with its danceable pop formula. Signed to the Baxter Music label, the quartet hit the French charts with "Baïla " (No. 2), followed by "Lucy" (No. 4) and "Le Temps qui court", based on Alain Chamfort's adaptation of Barry Manilow's hit "Could It Be Magic" (No. 4). The full-length L'Album, released in 1997, reached No. 9, and included the track with Irish band Boyzone "Te garder près de moi" (No. 3) and "Je sais" (No. 22). The success continued in 1998 with another collaboration with Swedish group Ace of Base for a cover of Bananarama's "Cruel Summer", which reached no. 24, as well as a version of Francis Cabrel's "Je l'aime à mourir" (no. 30). Both tracks appear on the second and final Musics album, released before the band's split. On February 25, 2014, Quentin Elias died of cardiac arrest at the age of 39.
