Author, composer, musician, performer and actor.
Born: June 25, 1944, in Montreal, Quebec.
Also nicknamed 'Garou' (not to be confused with
Garou, who came later), Robert Charlebois is an important figure in Francophone and French-Canadian music.
He grew up with popular impressionist
Jean-Guy Moreau and has composed and performed with many other prolific Québecois artists, such as
Réjean Ducharme,
Marcel Sabourin,
Yvon Deschamps and
Louise Forestier, the latter of whom he performed 'L'Osti D'Show' with in 1968).
Among his best known songs are
Lindberg and
Je Reviendrai À Montréal. His lyrics, often written in joual (the French patois of working-class Québec), are comedic, often utilizing puns and double entendres.
Charlebois won the Sopot International Song Festival in 1970, and in that same year he sang
La Solitudine in Italian with Italian singer
Patty Pravo.