Childhood

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Lapointe is the eldest of three children; he has two brothers, Marc and Hugo. Hugo is also a singer and started as a technician for his brother's band. Their father, Serge, was in the military and his family often had to move. By the age of 16, Lapointe had moved a total of 13 times. As a result, he was shy and reserved, had difficulty making friends, and stayed close to his mother, Doris.

At nine years old, Lapointe asked his father for a plastic guitar from a Sears catalogue. His father bought him a real guitar instead, and Lapointe soon learned how to strum chords, thanks to the help of his uncle, who was also a musician. He wrote his first songs at the age of ten and started touring Quebec and France at the age of 15.

Early career

At the age of 18, Lapointe joined the Parti Québécois and was discovered by Yves-François Blanchet (former president of l'ADISQ) who went on to manage his early career. Lapointe started out by playing at local bars and CEGEPs. To supplement his income, Lapointe worked side jobs as a pool installation technician, garbage collector, waiter and credit card salesman.

At the age of 20, Lapointe collaborated with Roger Tabra, writing his first hit single "N'importe quoi" ("Anything"). Despite having little money, Lapointe organized a showcase at a popular bar called Club Soda for record industry scouts. A representative of Disques Gamma, Patrice Duchesne, was impressed by Lapointe's talent and offered him a record contract. Gamma helped produce his debut album Obsession which was released in 1994. Aldo Nova produced the album, which caused some internal friction within the band.

1994–1995: Release of Obsession, rise to popularity

Local radio stations initially refused to play Lapointe's music. However, the video for his first single, "Terre promise (poussé par le vent)," found a new fan base and helped trigger sales. On 12 August 1994, Lapointe played for a crowd of 45,000 people at the corner of Jeanne-Mance and Saint Catherine in Montreal. Obsession was later certified platinum with over 250,000 copies sold.

In 1995, the Rolling Stones invited him to open their two Paris concerts during the Voodoo Lounge Tour along with Bon Jovi. They also played a concert at la Rochelle FrancoFolies festival along with French artist Florent Pagny.

1996–2007: Continued success

Lapointe and his band produced several other albums including Invitez les Vautours ("Invite the Vultures," 1996, 180,000 copies sold), À l'ombre de l'ange ("In the Shadow of the Angel," 1999, 225,000 copies) and Adrénaline, a live album which sold as of 2006 nearly 200,000 copies. In November 2004, Lapointe launched Coupable ("Guilty") and sold over 100,000 copies in its first few weeks. His first five albums were certified platinum and sold 900,000 total discs in 12 years.

On 8 April 2002, he launched Adrénaline, a double-album containing 25 live tracks that includes several covers. He also participated in the compilation of Le Petit Roi, and was especially noticed for his interpretation of "Une chance qu'on s'a" by Jean-Pierre Ferland.

Lapointe released the album Coupable a few weeks later, which quickly reached platinum status. The most notable hit was "La Bartendresse", featuring a video written by Quebec actor Patrick Huard. Lapointe wrote the vast majority of this album.

On 22 November 2006, Lapointe released a greatest hits album called 1994-2006: N'importe Qui.

In 2007, he made a guest appearance on the eponymous song of Dennis DeYoung's album One Hundred Years from Now as a singer and lyricist.

2008–present

On 22 April 2008, Lapointe's fifth studio album, Ma Peau, was released. Before its release, Dufour, who had been the band's guitarist since before Obsession, and Lapointe parted ways.

The 2009 compilation album, Ailleurs, Volume 1 includes duets with Céline Dion, Isabelle Boulay, Dan Bigras, Nanette Workman, and Les Divans, as well as a trio with Garou and Claude Dubois. The Dion duet is a remake of her 1991 hit "L'amour existe encore". A cover album entitled Volume 2 was released later in 2009.

Lapointe also teamed with Marjo for a remake of her 1990 hit "Ailleurs" as a blues-rock ballad. It appears on her greatest hits remakes album Marjo et ses hommes.

Lapointe's latest studio album, Le ciel de mes combats, was released on 30 November 2010. His sixth studio release features the return of Roger Tabra as cowriter, Aldo Nova on guitar, and Dufour as producer. These songs deal with themes such as friendship and suicide. As of 2011, Lapointe collaborated with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to create Lapointe Symphonique.

Since 2014, he is one of the four judges of La Voix, the Quebec version of The Voice.

In 2020 he pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman in 2019.^[1]

Current musicians

• Martin Bolduc – bass
• Ange E. Curcio – drums (1996–2006/ 2022 to date))
• Bruce Cameron – keys
• Mic Myette – guitars
• Stephane Dufour – guitars
• Rosa Laricchiuta – backing vocals

Past musicians

• Adrien Bance – guitars
• Rick Bourque – drums
• Stéphane Campeau – bass
• Dennis Chatrand – keyboards, organ
• Stéphane Dufour – guitars (1994–2007)
• Tino Izzo – guitars
• Aldo Nova – piano, keyboards, guitars
• Claude Pineault – guitars, backing vocals

Studio albums

• Obsession (1994)
• Invitez les vautours (1996)
• À l'ombre de l'ange (1999)
• Coupable (2004)
• Ma peau (2008)
• Le ciel de mes combats (2010)
• Jour de Nuit (2013)
• Delivrance (2018)

Live albums

• Adrénaline (2002) (Platinum)^[3]
• Lapointe Symphonique (2011)

Compilations

• Invitez les vautours (2002 Digipak Re-release with DVD)
• 1994-2006: N'importe qui (2006) (Gold)^[4]
• Ailleurs, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (2009)

Soundtracks

• Les Boys (1997)
• Les Boys II (1998)
• Les Boys III (2001)
• Bon cop, bad cop (2006)