27 replies to this topic

[roubaix]

Hi everyone!

Being a musician I was wondering if anyone knows if members of Celine's band have their own websites or blogs?  I think they are all great players and I wanted to read more about them.

Thanks everyone!
Cliff

[smw]

I would be interested in her back-up singers as well!  A couple have been with her for years and years.

[dionfan07]

you can just google their names and find information on them. that always works for me when i want to find something. that way it pulls from the whole internet i believe, instead of just one forum or blog.

[Davey84]

well here is some info... and their names!!

http://www.celinedio..._musicians.html

[sgcpc]

thx for the info!

[cmcdaori]

I do have pics,but u can find it on celine dion destin page..try it...if u get to problem,call me

[mirage]

some of them write music...
why not for celine

[Davey84]

well Mego did a lot of rewriting céline's songs for the live performances... but I don't know why they don't make new songs for her....

[Bruno Dion]

Celine Band members are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope they will be with Celine on next tour...

[Davey84]

I am very sure they will! Mego and Yves have been with Céline for over more then 20 years now! And Elise, André and Marc have been with Céline for I dunno 15 years or more! I wonder if Sébastian and the new back up singer and the percussionist are coming on this tour? I thought I read the old percussionist will join the band once céline is back on the road?

[Bruno Dion]

wow thank´s...

[abadi]

Bruno Dion, on Jan 10 2008, 06:52 PM, said:

Celine Band members are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope they will be with Celine on next tour...

Agree!!

I can not imagine Celine on the stage without them!!

[Bruno Dion]

THE GREAT BAND

Claude "Mégo" Lemay

Claude Lemay, commonly known as Mégo (meaning cigarette butt!), has been the piano player and music director for Céline for 14 years. Yet he didn't always like her music! When first asked to be her music director, he saw her as a little girl and refused to work with her. Then, he saw her Incognito special and realised that she had changed since he last saw her, and agreed to work with her.

André Coutu

André Coutu has been Céline's guitarist since 1992, joining for Céline's first tour as the supporting artist for Michael Bolton. After Céline went on her break he worked on many projects, including composing songs with Barnev Valsaint and working on the album of Isabelle Boulay.

Paul Picard

Paul Picard is Céline's percussionist. He first played for Céline when she recorded "Une Colombe" and was then in her band for her first tour in 1985. He then returned to playing in Quebec, with people such as Michel Rivard and Paul Piché. He rejoined Céline's team on August 6th 1995, for an outdoor festival in Alberta. He is described as a "musicians musician" and "a man with style and taste" so you can see why Céline wanted him on her team. About Céline he said she was one of the "most impressive things I've ever seen in show business. Fame hasn't gone to her head".

Yves Frulla

Yves Frulla has been playing the keyboard for Céline since the 1990 Unison tour. He also recorded "All By Myself" on the "Falling Into You" album in 1996. He is currently doing various shows with Céline, as well as working on Garou's new English album. He just finished working on the soundtrack for an upcoming film - so you get some idea about how busy he is!. He has also recently recorded music for many TV commercials, and demo tapes for singers and songwriters. Yves nickname, given to him by Céline is "dark-viber"! Yves is a trained keyboardist and MIDI programmer. He toured with Quebec artist Michael Breen, and Sass Jordan before joining Céline's team.

Marc Langis

Marc Langis has played the bass guitar for Céline since August 6th 1995, at a festival in Alberta. He trained in Classical Music and Jazz at the University of Miami and before playing for Céline, he played for Sonia Benezra. Marc also worked with Lara Fabian, on her albums Lara Fabian (1991) and Carpe Diem. Marc still plays the bass, for Isabel Boulay, hopes to give lessons and also works for a company in Montreal who sell guitars.

Terry Bradford

Terry was a backing singer for Céline and was replaced by Barnev Valsaint during the Let's Talk About Love tour. There were rumours that he was ill, or Céline had asked him to leave, but the official story is that he was recording a solo album. He has sung on the soundtracks of films such as the Lion King, Amistad etc.

Barnev Valsaint

Barnev was the baby of the team, replacing Terry Bradford during the Lets Talk About Love tour. As the male backing singer, he had to sing "I'm Your Angel" with Céline, as R. Kelly of course wasn't there. In my opinion, and in the opinions of many people that I have spoken to (and mine), he sings it better than R. Kelly anyway! It was also Barnev's responsibility to keep the crowd amused during Céline's first costume change, after Love Can Move Mountains. He kept the crowd on their feet and shouting "yeah" at each other until Céline returned to the stage!. Barnev was currently working with his group "NoDéjà".

Élise Duguay

Élise Duguay is one of Céline's backing singers and first worked for Céline in 1988 but only became a full-time member of the team in 1994. Élise is married to Dennis Savage, Céline's sound engineer, who she met on the tour. Élise played the flute during "My Heart Will Go On", and the cello (during "Call The Man" in the Falling Into You tour). She also played the keyboard during some of the songs. Élise has toured with people such as Garou and Isabelle Boulay. She sang backing vocals on Isabelle's album "Mieux Qu'Ici Bas" in the songs "Jamais Assez Loin", "Trop de Choses", "Le Coeur Combat" and "Quand Vos Coeurs M'appellent". She also sang on the album "Etats D'amour".

Julie LeBlanc

Julie LeBlanc is one of Céline's  backing singers. She has been touring with Céline since the Memphis concerts in 1997 (now made into a video). During the Let's Talk About Love tour, Julie not only sang but also played the keyboard on some of the songs, for example "Je Te Crois". During her break from working with Céline, Julie toured with people such as Lara Fabian. She also gave singing lessons, as well as being a backing musician forartists recording their albums. Julie sang backing vocals for Isabelle Boulay on her album "Mieux Qu'ici Bas" on the songs "J'amais Assez Loin", and "Quand Vos Coeurs M'appellent." Isabelle described Julie as "the beautiful one, the thin one and the reassuring one" of her singers.

Carre, Jean-Sebastien

He is from St-Raphael de Bellechasse, Canada and play the violin. A newcomer to Celine’s lineup, Jean-Sébastien arrives with a blossoming solo career as one of Canada’s premier young violinists. Since his album debuted in April 2002, he has played before festival crowds of over 30,000 fans and shot four music videos. Carre formed his first band in ninth grade, and was soon playing in local bars. By the time he was 16, he devoted himself to full-time study, working on voice, violin and jazz. By 1998, at age 21, Carré was touring Québec with Mario Chenart, one of the province’s greatest cabaret singers; a European tour followed. By 2001, Carré had earned a record deal, and the public acclaim that followed eventually landed him a role in Céline’s band for "A New Day...".

Messier, Dominique

He id from Montreal, Canada and plays drums. Messier has been touring with Celine since August 1995. In the course of his 25-year career in music, Messier has been a composer, arranger, sound engineer, producer, studio owner and of course, drummer. Messier considers studio work his specialty: in 1977, his family established Studio Piccolo in Montreal, and he began his work there while studying music at CEGEP Saint-Laurent in Quebec. During his student years, Messier brought his talents to numerous shows and recording sessions, and by 1979 he had played on his first album. Later, he played club dates, recorded for albums and jingles. In the 1980s, he learned to use the drum machine, and soon began to diversify his efforts in other ways: he learned sound engineering, began writing music and learned to play bass, keyboards and guitar.

Gauthier, Mary-Lou

She is from Montreal, Canada, now is one of the background vocals in Celine Dion´s team. By the age of 9, Mary-Lou was soloing at St.Patrick’s Basilica in Montreal, and she hasn’t stopped singing since. At 10, she made her first radio appearance; by 16, she had won a nationally televised talent competition. Gauthier continued to explore her vocal gifts and soon discovered a lasting love for R&B and gospel music. Her voice has taken her from gospel music in her teens to rock’n’roll in her 20s to singing and recording with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. She has brought her talents to stages and studios around the world, bringing a powerful soprano R&B voice to albums, film music, commercials and live shows. Gauthier is also an acclaimed songwriter; among her credits is “In the Summertime,” a major hit from the summer of 1973.

[Davey84]

wow!! thank you!!

[peo]

Thanks for sharing!

[roubaix]

Here is a short interview with Andre Coutu (maybe of interest to guitar players only!)

Interview with Andre (see the "I Drove All Night" guitar!)

[ashleylovesceline]

Of course her band is going on the tour!  

[roubaix]

Anything new or current regarding this?

[Celine_2533]

i like celine's dancer in Las vegas.

Edited by Celine_2533, 26 March 2008 - 10:52 AM.

[tonybower]

I am a huge fan of Elise Duguay!
Don't ask me why... I just think she seems really sweet (and hot!)
When I see Celine, I expect to see Elise too. You could say I support her as much as I support Celine.
Would love to meet her

Edited by tonybower, 26 March 2008 - 03:08 PM.

[CelineFanInSoCal]

Celine's band is a seemingly sweet group of people.  It's important for a vocalist to have a strong sense of togetherness with their band.  

On the FLIP SIDE [please don't hate me for this], but someone is responsible for the sound of her band's live performances, tempo's, remixes, etc.  Mego is the band's leader, right?  And well, um, he isn't a spring chic, and I think sometimes this makes Celine's sound a little older or musically irrelevant for the current moment.  Some of the live performances are being performed the same way they were 15 years ago.  Now I would imagine other people [Celine and Rene] have input in what the overall sound will be, though a strong musical director would realize that not every live song needs to have the same sounding guitar and backing vocals.  Remember the FIY tour?  Every song sounded the same...  and it will be that way until someone says something, or Celine is so far into her career that she will be performing with orchestra's only like Barbara Streisand or something.  LOL  I imagine we aren't there yet, I mean... c'mon, she's TAKING CHANCES nowadays, right?!  LOL  Maybe...  

[A New Day Has Come]

One of my friends at my school has a friend that says Elise Duguay is her Auntie is that not crazy or what. I wish I was in her band and Celines band is fantastic but I would rather do the lights for concerts and her tours as well.

[Celine_2533]

i love Elise Duguay too.
http://www.geocities...lise/elise.html

AND

http://www.geocities...and/index1.html

Edited by Celine_2533, 26 March 2008 - 10:50 PM.

[Chula]

Miss Julie and Paul. They should join Celine in this World Tour!

[celinefanonline]

http://www.geocities.com/celinesband/

[destin139]

thanks for the information! i love her band - they're so cool! i could never imagine celine performing without them!

[roubaix]

celinefanonline, on Mar 27 2008, 01:51 AM, said:

http://www.geocities.com/celinesband/

Thanks for the link but I've seen this before and it is WAY out of date - that is why I wondered if anyone else "inside" the group kept a myspace page or a blog of some kind.

The info from the link was taken from a program and written early on when Celine started in Las Vegas........

Hmmmmm, maybe I should try to start something new myself?  

[Black Kitten]

good Terry Bradford left celine. he's not a good vocalist and everytime i watch their live performance of Beauty & the Beast in Memphis, he sounds awful. i'm sorry but i don't like him. he looks kind, but i just don't like his voice. and i love Yves.