Dan Bigras (born 23 December 1957) is a francophone

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

singer and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He has released a number of albums of rock music, beginning with ''Ange Animal'' in 1990. He is the spokesman of ''Refuge des Jeunes de Montréal'' (meaning Refuge of Montreal's youth), an agency to help homeless and at-risk youth. The organisation produces ''le show du Refuge'' each year.

Early life

Bigras was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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 ...

. He left home at age 16 and began playing rock music in bars.

Career

Bigras was discovered by rock singer

Gerry Boulet Joseph Gaétan Robert Gérald (Gerry) Boulet (March 1, 1946 – July 18, 1990) was a French Canadian rock singer.

in 1983. In 1990 he released his first album, ''Ange Animal''. A year later, his song "Un bateau dans une bouteille" was performed as part of the city of Montreal's 350th anniversary celebration. His second album, ''Tue-Moi'', was nominated for a

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' ( ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian ...

. Bigras worked as an actor in the ''30 Vies'' television series. He was seen nationally in a pair of CBC miniseries dramas about Canadian biker gangs called '' The Last Chapter'' (2002), and '' The Last Chapter II: The War Continues'' (2002), as Roots Racine, the impetuous leader of the Montreal chapter of the Triple Sixers, a fictional group loosely based on the

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporati ...

. These series were produced in English and French. He was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Achievement in Music - Original Song, "L'Astronaute", for the movie ''

Angel's Rage ''Angel's Rage'' (french: La Rage de l'ange) is a 2006 Canadian drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind ...

(La Rage de l'ange)''. Bigras was also the director of '' The Ring Within (Le Ring intérieur)'', a 2002 documentary film about

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

. The film was a Genie Award nominee for Best Feature Length Documentary at the

23rd Genie Awards The 23rd Genie Awards were held in 2003 to honour films released in 2002. The ceremony was hosted by Arsinée Khanjian and Peter Keleghan. Nominees and winners The Genie Award winner in each category is shown in bold text. References {{Cana ...

in 2003. His controversial 2014 album, ''Le sans visage'', received mixed reviews. Bigras toured in Quebec that year in support of the album."Dan Bigras, heureux sur scène"
''Le Journal de Montreal'', Catherine Chantal-Boivin 26 février 2014

Discography

* ''Ange Animal'' (1991) * ''Tue-moi'' (1992) * ''Les Immortels'' (1993) * ''Le Fou du diable'' (1995) * ''Le Chien'' (1998) * ''2000 et un enfant'' (1999) * ''Bigras 1992/2002 Tout'' (2003) * ''Fou'' (2005) * ''Fan'' (2009)

Filmography

* '' J'en suis!'' (1997) * ''Rivière-des-Jérémie'' (2001) - TV series * ''Le ring intérieur'' (2002)Christine Ramsay.
Making It Like a Man: Canadian Masculinities in Practice
'. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press; 7 October 2011. . p. 242.Thomas Waugh.
Romance of Transgression in Canada: Queering Sexualities, Nations, Cinemas
'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 2006. . p. 206. * ''Tag - Épilogue'' (2002) - TV series * ''The Last Chapter'' (2002) - TV miniseries * ''The Last Chapter II: The War Continues'' (2003) - TV miniseries * ''Les guerriers'' (TV-2004) * ''Idole instantanée'' (2005) * ''La Rage de l'ange'' (2006) * ''3 saisons'' (2008) * ''30 vies'' (2010) * ''District 31'' (2021)

References

External links