James LaBrie
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Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian vocalist who is best known as the lead singer in progressive metal band Dream Theater.
He was born in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada and started singing and playing drums at age 5. By his mid-teens, LaBrie was a member of several bands as a singer and/or drummer, and in 1981, at age 18, he moved to Toronto to further his musical pursuits. He currently still resides in Toronto, with his wife Karen, daughter Chloe, and son Chance.
After stints with various bands, he became the vocalist for glam rock band Winter Rose, who released a self-titled album in 1987.
In 1991 he learned that a relatively unknown American progressive metal band called Dream Theater were in the market for a singer, so he sent down a tape and was quickly flown to New York for a full audition. The trial went well, and he was chosen ahead of 200 other hopefuls to fill the full-time vocalist position in that band.
With another Kevin in the band already, LaBrie dropped his first name and adopted the stage name James LaBrie.
During the recording of Dream Theater's first album with LaBrie in the band, Images and Words, he didn't have much input into the musical composition, because the majority of the music was already written while the band were auditioning singers. He did however manage to exert some influence on the vocal melodies, which he devised with drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci.
He has since had a significant impact on the vocal melodies on each Dream Theater album, but continues to have little input into the musical side of Dream Theater. To date he has written lyrics for at least one song on each album Dream Theater have released with him in the band.
His musical inspiration comes from many different genres, including such artists as Metallica, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nat King Cole, Queen, Sting, and Linkin Park, whose inspiration, according to LaBrie, is expected to show on Dream Theater's album "Octavarium", which is scheduled to be released on June 7, 2005.
Throughout his career with Dream Theater, he has lent his voice to many other artists' records as well as tribute albums to some influencial artists. He has appeared on many Trent Gardner releases (including Leonardo: The Absolute Man and Explorer's Club), as well as appearing on albums by such artists as Ayreon, Shadow Gallery, Tim Donohue and Frameshift.
With Matt Guillory and Mike Mangini, LaBrie has released three solo albums under various names (Mullmuzzler, The James LaBrie Band, and simply James LaBrie). His latest, Elements of Persuasion, was released in March, 2005.
External links
- Dream Theater official web site (http://www.dreamtheater.net/)
- James LaBrie official web site (http://www.jameslabrie.com/)
- Frameshift web site (http://frameshift.progrockrecords.com/)
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