Daniel Bélanger

Songwriter, guitarist and performer Daniel Bélanger made his mark on the Quebec scene in the 1990s. Born in Montreal, Canada, on December 26, 1961, he formed the local rock band Humphrey Salade in 1983, before striking out on his own. A finalist in Radio-Canada's Rock Envol contest in 1986, the singer released his first solo album, Les Insomniaques S'Amusent, in 1992, which went platinum. This pop-rock recording, with its abundant instrumentation, was followed in 1996 by the simpler Quatre Saisons dans le Désordre. A triple live album, Tricycle (1999), records the various tours, both as a group and in acoustic solo versions. His return after five years of silence resulted in the album Rêver Mieux (2001), which garnered seven Prix Félix and a Juno Award, while its successor, the conceptual and electronic Déflaboxe (2003), is disconcertingly boxing-themed. An artist with a wry sense of humor, Daniel Bélanger wrote the soundtrack for the Prix Jutra-winning film L'Audition (2006), then reunited with his musicians and his public with the following album L'Échec du Matériel (2007, a Juno Award) and Joli Chaos (2008, a Félix Award), a double disc split between a compilation and ten new songs. After Nous (2009), the singer with the most Félix Awards composes the music for Michel Tremblay's musicals Les Belles-Sœurs and Sainte Carmen de la Main, as well as for Jean Lemire's show Paradis Perdu. In 2013, he became a member of the jury for the TV show La Voix, and unveiled the album Chic de Ville, with its rockabilly, folk and country roots, followed by Paloma (2016), with its folk and electro tones, winner of two ADISQ awards the following year. In 2020, the year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the instrumental album Travelling is released. A collection of poems entitled Poids lourd is published before the tenth album Mercure en Mai (2022), which reached #4 in the Canadian charts on its release.