Ariane Moffatt (born 26 April 1979) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Known for working across multiple

musical genres This is a list of music genres and styles. Music can be described in terms of many music genre, genres and styles. Classifications are often arbitrary, and may be disputed and closely related forms often overlap. Larger genres and styles comprise ...

, Moffatt's music combines elements of

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

, and pop. A

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

, she is bilingual and has recorded tracks in both French and English. Her 2002 debut album ''Aquanaute'' went

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, earning 11 nominations at the 2003

ADISQ ADISQ (french: Association québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video; eng, Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries, link=yes) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the indepen ...

Awards and winning three Félix awards (for Discovery of the Year, Album of the Year – Pop/Rock, and Album Producer of the Year). She is known in Quebec for two well-received

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

from ''Aquanaute'': "La barricade" and "Dans un océan".

Early life

Moffatt grew up in Saint-Romuald, a suburb of

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

on the south shore of the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. After completing Grade 11, she moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

where she earned a

Diplôme d'études collégiales A College Diploma in Quebec for pre-university studies and technical studies (officially titled: Diploma of College Studies, often abbreviated DCS, French: ''Diplôme d'études collégiales'' or ''DEC'') is a degree issued by the Ministry of Educ ...

in music at

Cégep de Saint-Laurent Cégep de Saint-Laurent is a public French-language college located in the Saint-Laurent borough in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is a few doors south of the English-language public college Vanier College. History The college traces its origins ...

, then a

Baccalauréat The ''baccalauréat'' (; ), often known in France colloquially as the ''bac'', is a French national academic qualification that students can obtain at the completion of their secondary education (at the end of the ''lycée'') by meeting certain ...

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

and classical singing from UQAM.

Career

After university, Moffatt went on tour with singer

Marc Déry Marc Déry (born 4 November 1963) a French Canadian singer and guitarist from Quebec. He was a member of the band Zébulon. and also released four albums as a solo artist. Early life Déry was born in Mascouche, Quebec. Career Déry played bas ...

. This led to an invitation in 2001 from singer-songwriter

Daniel Bélanger Daniel Bélanger (born December 26, 1961) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. His music is eclectic, inspired by alternative rock, folk and electronic music, sometimes humorous, sometimes wistful. Biography In middle 1983, he founded the band Hu ...

to join his band as a keyboardist and vocalist in support of his well-received album ''

Rêver mieux ''Rêver mieux'' is the third studio album by Québécois singer and musician Daniel Bélanger."Electrifying changes: Belanger goes from folkie to high tech on his new album, Rever Mieux". ''Montreal Gazette'', November 19, 2001. It was his first ...

''. Her debut solo album ''Aquanaute'' was released in 2002 on the Audiogram label in Canada and on the EMI/Virgin label in Europe in 2005. In 2004, Moffatt met French rock musician

Matthieu Chedid Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971), better known by his stage name -M-, is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique Awards with 13 awards, tied with A ...

at Montreal's

FrancoFolies Francofolies or Les Francofolies may refer to: * Les FrancoFolies de Montréal, a music festival in Montréal, Québec, Canada * Les Francofolies de La Rochelle Les Francofolies () are an annual music festival founded in 1985 in La Rochelle, P ...

music and performance festival. She subsequently remixed Chedid's "La Bonne Étoile" (from his 2003 album ''

Qui de nous deux ''Qui de nous deux ?'' (2003) is an album by French singer-songwriter Matthieu Chedid in his persona as -M-. It is his third full studio album, or the fourth if including the instrumental work Labo M which he had released earlier the same year. ...

'') as a virtual duet. Her version of the popular song received wide airplay in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and helped introduce her to French music fans. The track was scheduled to be included on a future re-release of ''Aquanaute''. In 2005, Moffatt released her first music DVD, ''Ariane Moffatt à la Station C'', which received a 2006 Juno Award nomination for Music DVD of the Year. Her second album, ''Le cœur dans la tête'' (meaning ''Heart in the Head'') was released later that year. Moffatt opened for French musician

Alain Souchon Alain Souchon (; born Alain Édouard Kienast ; 27 May 1944) is a French singer-songwriter and actor. He has released 15 albums and has played roles in seven films. Profile Alain Souchon was born in Casablanca, Morocco. His family on his mother ...

at the Olympia (a Montreal theatre and concert venue) in 2006. Moffatt collaborated with Franco-

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

singer-songwriter

Yael Naim Yael Naim ( he, יעל נעים, born 6 February 1978) is a French-born Israeli singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2008 in the US after her hit single " New Soul" was used by Apple in an advertising campaign for its MacBook Air. The song pe ...

on her 2008 release ''Tous les sens'' (meaning ''All the Senses''), which was awarded Francophone Album of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards. She also contributed vocals to the song "Sweet Light" on '' Tales from the City'', the second album from Montreal alternative band

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

. In 2010, Moffatt contributed twelve tracks (all covers of English-language songs) to the popular

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

medical show ''

Trauma Trauma most often refers to: * Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source * Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic i ...

'', which were subsequently released as a soundtrack album. Songs included "

Everybody Hurts "Everybody Hurts" is a song by American rock band R.E.M. from their eighth studio album, ''Automatic for the People'' (1992), and released as a single in April 1993. It peaked at number 29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached the top 10 ...

" by

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's "

In My Secret Life "In My Secret Life" is a song written and performed by Leonard Cohen and Sharon Robinson (songwriter), Sharon Robinson. Bob Metzger plays the guitar. The song first appears on the album ''Ten New Songs'', released in 2001. Cohen first revealed he ...

" and "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

", and

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (born May 8, 1976) is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress. She has released seven critically-acclaimed studio albums. Wainwright is the daughter of musicians Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III a ...

's "Far Away". Montreal's ''Hour'' alternative newsweekly declared that Moffatt "owns these songs so hard you have to wonder if anyone will ever be able to pry them away from her". The soundtrack went on to reach Gold status in Canada. That same year she was nominated for "Best Breakthrough Live Act of the Year" at France's

Victoires de la Musique Victoires de la Musique (; en, Victories of Music) is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz ...

awards. Moffatt's fourth album, ''MA'' (the title references both the Japanese concept of negative space and Moffatt's initials) was released in 2012. It marked the first time the singer has composed songs in English. In an interview with ''Hour'' Moffatt explained that the effort had been inspired by her surroundings: "My studio is in

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

, I live nearby as well, the neighbourhood is bilingual and so is the music scene I'm attracted to, which is very palpable around here," she told Hour. "I was looking for a space to compose, somewhere inspiring and luminous. I was on a kind of sabbatical, exploring and playing around, with no deadline to make an album. I was just composing and recording here in my little bubble, all by myself. I ended up with a bunch of songs, half of them in English, half in French." Moffatt was a judge on season 1 of ''

La voix ''La Voix'' is a francophone Canadian reality talent show as part of the international television series franchise ''The Voice'', based on the original Dutch version of the program created by John de Mol. The series is part of ''The Voice' ...

'' and returned for season 4. Moffatt has also performed in the group Louve, with

Salomé Leclerc Salomé Leclerc (born April 27, 1986) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec. Biography Leclerc studied music at the École de la chanson de Granby, before releasing her debut album ''Sous les arbres'' in 2011. She received a SOCAN Songwriti ...

Marie-Pierre Arthur Marie-Pierre Arthur is the stage name of Marie-Pierre Fournier, a Canadian pop singer-songwriter from Quebec.Amylie Amylie Boisclair (born 1982) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Quebec.Philippe Papineau"Amylie retourne à l’essentiel" ''Le Devoir'', May 13, 2016. She is most noted for her 2012 album ''Le Royaume'', which was a shortlisted Juno Award nomi ...

and Laurence Lafond-Beaulne. In March 2019, she was one of 11 singers from Quebec, alongside

Ginette Reno Ginette Reno (born Ginette Raynault; 28 April 1946) is a Canadian author, composer, singer, and actress. She has received nominations for the Genie and Gemini Awards and is a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. She is a gold and platinum sel ...

Diane Dufresne Diane Dufresne, (born 30 September 1944) is a French Canadian singer and painter, and is known for singing a large repertoire of popular Quebec songs. Dufresne was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She lived in Paris from 1965 to 1967 where ...

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

, Isabelle Boulay,

Luce Dufault Luce Dufault (born August 19, 1966 in Orleans, Ontario) is a Canadian singer. She is of French descent. She performed in two musicals from Luc Plamondon, La Légende de Jimmy and Starmania. She recorded a few hits including ''Soirs de scotc ...

Louise Forestier Louise Forestier (born Louise Belhumeur on August 10, 1942) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and actress. Biography Born in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, Forestier was trained in acting at the National Theatre School in Montreal, but it was as a s ...

Laurence Jalbert Laurence Jalbert (born Lise Jalbert, 18 August 1959 in Rivière-au-Renard, Quebec) is a pop and rock singer-songwriter from Quebec. Background She began her career with the band Volt in 1985."Quebec singer's struggle pays off". '' Edmonton Jou ...

Catherine Major Catherine Major (born February 18, 1980) is a Canadian pop singer and songwriter from Quebec. She is most noted for her 2011 album ''Le désert des solitudes'', which was a Juno Award nominee for Francophone Album of the Year at the Juno Awards o ...

Marie Denise Pelletier Marie Denise Pelletier (born 3 April 1960) is a francophone Canadian singer. She served as President of Artisti, a copyright collective for music artists operated by Quebec's l'Union des artistes (UDA). Biography While studying literature and ...

and

Marie-Élaine Thibert Marie-Élaine Thibert (born April 18, 1982) is a Canadian adult contemporary and pop singer based in Quebec. Thibert was first notable for being the runner-up in the first season of Star Académie in 2003, the Quebec singing idol reality show. Sh ...

, who participated in a

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

recording of

Renée Claude Renée Claude (born Renée Bélanger; July 3, 1939 – May 12, 2020) was a Canadian actress and singer Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas and Benoît L'Herbier"Renée Claude" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', January 20, 2010. who was known as an inter ...

's 1971 single "Tu trouveras la paix" after Claude's diagnosis with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

was announced.

Personal life

On 26 February 2012, Moffatt came out as

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

in an interview with Guy Lepage on the popular Quebec talk show '' Tout le monde en parle''."De « je m’appelle Paulette » à Ariane Moffatt"
''

Fugues In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...

'', May 22, 2012. On 14 February 2013, Moffatt announced that her fiancée was pregnant with twins, due for summer 2013.

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Videography

* 2002: "Point de mire" * 2003: "La Barricade" * 2003: "Poussière d'ange" * 2004: "Fracture du crâne" * 2005: "Hasard" * 2005: ''À la station C'' (DVD) * 2006: "Montréal" * 2008: "Réverbère" * 2009: "Jeudi, 17 mai" * 2009: "Je veux tout" * 2012: "Mon Corps" * 2012: "In Your Body" * 2012: "Too Late" * 2015: "Debout"

References

External links

*
Ariane Moffatt official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffatt, Ariane 1979 births Audiogram (label) artists People from Lévis, Quebec Canadian singer-songwriters Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year winners Canadian lesbian musicians Canadian LGBT singers LGBT songwriters Living people Singers from Quebec French-language singers of Canada Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Canadian women pop singers French Quebecers 21st-century Canadian women singers 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people