Marc Martel is a Canadian
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...
musician born in
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 ...
, Canada. In 1999, he formed the band
Downhere
Downhere (stylized as downhere) is a Christian rock band from Canada. They have released six studio albums to date: ''downhere'' (2001), ''So Much for Substitutes'' (2003), ''Wide-Eyed and Mystified'' (2006), ''Ending Is Beginning'' (2008), ...
before going solo in 2013. Aside from his own work, Martel is known for his
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
covers and his vocal likeness to frontman
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...
.
Beginnings
He was born in Montreal, Canada to Michel Martel and his wife Barbara Beresford Martel. He attended
Briercrest College and Seminary in
Caronport
Caronport ( 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Caron No. 162 and Census Division No. 7. The village is west of the City of Moose Jaw on the Trans-Canada Highway.
Histor ...
,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
where he met his roommate Jason Germain. With him and a few friends he formed the band downhere.
Career
Downhere (1999–2012)
Downhere (stylized as downhere) developed their sound while touring on behalf of Briercrest College. After four years of college, the band relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where they signed with
Word Records
Word Records is a Christian faith-based entertainment company based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is owned by Curb Records, and is a part of Word Entertainment. It is distributed by Warner Records (the former Warner Bros. Records).
History
In 1 ...
. Downhere went on to win multiple
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
s,
Covenant Award
The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Ca ...
s and a
Dove Award
A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...
. They released 10 albums, including ''
On the Altar of Love
''On the Altar of Love'' is the sixth official album release from contemporary Christian music band downhere. The album won the 2012 Juno Award for Best Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year.
Critical reception
Christian Broadcastin ...
'', before going on hiatus effective January 1, 2013.
Solo (2013–present)
In September 2011, Martel entered a competition to join
Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to:
*Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen
*Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran
*Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series
*Roger Taylor (college pr ...
's (original drummer for the rock band
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
) official Queen tribute project, the
Queen Extravaganza
The Queen Extravaganza Tour was a concert tour by official Queen tribute band the Queen Extravaganza.
Background
The Queen Extravaganza was Queen's official tribute band, developed by the band's original drummer, Roger Taylor. The original band ...
, with a video of Martel singing along with the Queen classic
"Somebody to Love". It generated more than one million views on YouTube after being up for only a few days and it has over 22 million views. This led to an appearance on ''
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...
'' a week following the release of the video. Martel went on to be one of the winners of the competition which led to a six-week tour with The Queen Extravaganza in 2012. The Queen Extravaganza had continued to tour with Martel until the end of 2016.
Martel released an EP, ''Prelude'', on February 1, 2013 The EP was recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles with producer
John Fields. His full-length debut, ''Impersonator'', released on September 30, 2014.
In September 2016, he collaborated on "
Last Christmas
"Last Christmas" is a song by British pop duo Wham!, originally released in December 1984 on CBS Records internationally and as a double A-side on Epic Records with "Everything She Wants" in the UK. Described as a "high watermark of mid-80s Br ...
", featured in the video game, ''Just Dance 2017''. On November 18, 2016 ''The Silent Night'' EP, a collection of Christmas songs, was released.
In 2017, Martel left Queen Extravaganza and joined the Ultimate Queen Celebration.
In 2019, Martel recorded a new version of "
Silver Bells" with
Amy Grant
Amy Lee Grant (born November 25, 1960) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She began in contemporary Christian music (CCM) before crossing over to pop music in the 1980s and 1990s. She has been referred to as "The Queen of Christia ...
and
Michael W. Smith
Michael Whitaker Smith (born October 7, 1957) is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when " Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the '' ...
that reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Christian AC Monitor charts, and the Mediabase Christian AC. This was Martel's first career No. 1 song. He accompanied them on their annual Christmas Tour.
Martel contributed vocal recordings for the Queen
biographical film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
, ''
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...
'' (2018). Film producer Graham King confirmed that Marc Martel recorded vocals for the film in a ''Rolling Stone'' article:
Most singing scenes in the movie rely on either vocal stems from Queen master tapes or new recordings by Marc Martel, a Canadian Christian rock singer whose voice is practically identical to the late frontman's. "Literally, you could close your eyes and it's Freddie," says King. "And that's a very tough thing to do."
And in an interview to FilmJournal International he revealed more details about Martel's involvement in the making of the film:
Rami sings a little bit in the film, there's a lot of Freddie Mercury obviously, and a lot of Marc Martel. He sent a video to Brian May and Roger Taylor and he sounds exactly like Freddie Mercury. We knew that we had someone we could use for parts that maybe Rami couldn't do and obviously Freddie didn't do. So we were in Abbey Road recording studio for maybe two and a half months with Marc and with Rami, recording bits and pieces that we knew we needed. It's hard to find someone who can sing like Freddie Mercury and I'm not sure the movie would have happened if we didn't have Marc.
Martel resides in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Crystal.
He has also done voice work as Withered Foxy in the 2016 video game ''
Five Nights at Freddy's World''.
Discography
With downhere
* ''
downhere
Downhere (stylized as downhere) is a Christian rock band from Canada. They have released six studio albums to date: ''downhere'' (2001), ''So Much for Substitutes'' (2003), ''Wide-Eyed and Mystified'' (2006), ''Ending Is Beginning'' (2008), ...
'' (
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, 1999)
* ''
downhere
Downhere (stylized as downhere) is a Christian rock band from Canada. They have released six studio albums to date: ''downhere'' (2001), ''So Much for Substitutes'' (2003), ''Wide-Eyed and Mystified'' (2006), ''Ending Is Beginning'' (2008), ...
'' (2001)
* ''
So Much for Substitutes
''So Much for Substitutes'' is the second official album release by Christian rock band Downhere, 1st album to include current bassist Glenn Lavender, and last album released under Word Records. The label dropped the band from their roster in 20 ...
'' (2003)
* ''
Wide-Eyed and Mystified
''Wide-Eyed and Mystified'' is the third official album release by Christian rock band Downhere. It is the 1st official album release through Centricity Music, to which the band was signed in 2005.
Critical reception
Allmusic's Jared Johnson sa ...
'' (2006)
* ''
Wide-Eyed and Simplified'' (2007)
* ''
Thunder After Lightning (The Uncut Demos)'' (2007)
* ''Thank You for Coming (The Live Bootlegs)'' (2008)
* ''
Ending Is Beginning
''Ending Is Beginning'' is the fifth official album release from Christian rock band Downhere. It was released on September 23, 2008. In May 2008, fans played a part in selecting the songs chosen for this album by rating and scoring 17 potential so ...
'' (2008, review
)
* ''
How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas'' (2009)
* ''
Two at a Time: Sneak Peeks & B-Sides'' (2010)
* ''
On the Altar of Love
''On the Altar of Love'' is the sixth official album release from contemporary Christian music band downhere. The album won the 2012 Juno Award for Best Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year.
Critical reception
Christian Broadcastin ...
'' (2011)
Solo
* ''The Prelude'' EP (2013)
* ''The Silent Night'' EP (2016)
* ''Impersonator'' (2014)
* ''Live at the High Watt'' (2016)
* ''A Night at the Apollo'' (2017)
* ''The First Noel'' EP (2017)
* ''My Way Vol. 1'' EP (2018)
* ''Thunderbolt & Lightning'' (2018)
* ''Christmas Is Here'' EP (2018)
* ''The Christmas Collection'' (2019)
* ''Live in Auckland New Zealand'' featuring UQC (2020)
* ''A One Take Rhapsody'' (2020)
* ''Thank God It's Christmas'' (2020)
* ''Forte'' (2021)
* ''Hark!'' (2021)
* ''My Way Vol. 2'' (2022)
* ''The Christmas Collection, Vol. 2'' (2022)
Singles
* "Cual Otro Rey" (2020)
* "Fat Bottomed Girls" (2020)
* "Under Pressure" (2020)
* "Somebody to Love" (2021)
* "Seven Seas of Rhye/Bicycle Race" (2021)
* "Let Me Entertain You" (2021)
* "Another One Bites the Dust" (2022)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martel, Marc
Living people
1976 births
Canadian Christians
Canadian rock singers
Canadian rock guitarists
Canadian rock pianists
Canadian male singer-songwriters
Canadian singer-songwriters
Juno Award winners
Performers of Christian rock music
Singers from Montreal
Canadian male guitarists
Canadian male pianists
21st-century Canadian pianists
21st-century Canadian guitarists
21st-century Canadian male singers