Norman Joseph Bédard (born July 30, 1962), also known by the former stage names Norman Iceberg and Norman Joseph, is a Canadian singer-songwriter.

Early years: Performing as Norman Iceberg

A graphic artist turned performance artist, Norman Bedard emerged from the

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 ...

underground music scene in the early '80s under the name Norman Iceberg. One of a handful of gender-bending new wave artists to come out following the success of artists like

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

Boy George George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...

and

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his d ...

, Bedard was recruited by music producer Tony Green, responsible for

France Joli France Joli () (born February 2, 1963) is a Canadian singer, best known for the disco classics " Come to Me" and "Gonna Get Over You". Teen stardom Born France Joly in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Joli grew up in Dorion. Her father was a hardwar ...

’s 1979 disco hit "Come To Me". Norman Bedard's experimental, minimal electro sound was therefore remodeled to cater to the dance club scene as evident on his debut, ''Be My Human Tonight'' (

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

). '' Person(a)'', released in 1987, was a conceptual collection of

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

songs reflecting a young man's own vision of life, and featuring keyboardists such as Lenny Pinkas (

Men Without Hats Men Without Hats are a Canadian New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers ...

), Mario Spezza (

Rational Youth Rational Youth was a Canadian new wave Synth-pop band that was originally active between 1981 and 1986, and at various points up until the end of 2021. History Rational Youth was formed in 1981 in Montreal, Quebec, by synthesizer players Tra ...

) and Mic Lussier. The cover photograph of him posing nude - pre-dating

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

’s ''

Lovesexy ''Lovesexy'' is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Prince. The album was released on May 10, 1988 by Paisley Park Records and Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in just seven weeks, from mid-December 1987 to late Janua ...

'' by several months - stirred up controversy. A few selections taken from ''Person(a)'' were used for

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

’s ''Le Match de la Vie'' hosted by

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 ...

author and former politician

Claude Charron Claude Charron (born October 22, 1946 in L'Île-Bizard, Quebec) is a former CEGEP teacher, provincial politician, writer and broadcaster. He became Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the youngest Member of the National Assembly of Quebec. ...

. On stage, careful attention was paid to set design and visual effects; Bedard would then sometimes only be backed by a pre-recorded soundtrack and live vocalists such as

Claudine Mercier Claudine Mercier (born November 3, 1961) is a Québécoise comedian, singer, actress and impressionist. Mercier began her performing career in the early-80's singing with the a cappella vocal group Artishows for several years, and with Canadian ...

and Louise Litsz, giving them entire freedom to use props and screens, a style made popular by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

performance artist

Laurie Anderson Laurel Philips Anderson (born June 5, 1947), known as Laurie Anderson, is an American avant-garde artist, composer, musician, and film director whose work spans performance art, pop music, and multimedia projects. Initially trained in violin and ...

. 1988 saw the release of ''Gotta Move''. With its frenetic, energetic beat, 1989’s "Kiss the Beauty" was a favourite for months in night clubs. The title track's music video was directed by filmmaker

Érik Canuel Érik Canuel (born 1961) is a film director and actor from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Canuel, the son of actor Yvan Canuel, began his career in the mid-1980s making music videos for such artists as Paul Piché, Sass Jordan, Norman Iceberg, Vil ...

. A couple of years later, "We Act" got him a "Best Video" nomination at the

Musique Plus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mu ...

(his native

equivalent to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

) Video Awards.

Transition: From Norman Iceberg to Norman Bedard

In the early '90s, American music industry executives strongly advised him to change his name in order to avoid any confusion with new rap artists Ice-T,

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

and

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

. However, with a strong gay following, Bedard decided to keep using his stage name, performing notably at the 1992

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Gay Pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...

, the notorious

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

, as well as

’s Glam Slam, backed by dancers

Viktor Manoel Viktor Manoel (born 1957) is a Mexican–American dancer, choreographer, writer, and actor. Manoel was born and raised in Mexico. He worked with such choreographers as Édouard Lock of Canadian dance group La La La Human Steps and Toni Basil. ...

(from

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

’s 'Glass Spider' tour), Luca Tommassini and

Carrie Ann Inaba Carrie Ann Inaba (born January 5, 1968) is an American television personality, dancer, choreographer, actress, and singer. She is best known for her work on ABC TV's ''Dancing with the Stars'' for which she has served as a judge since 2005. She c ...

(from

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’s 'Girlie Show' tour). He also performed acoustic sets with American actor Robert Consoli on guitar. Ending a series of concerts with a five-piece rock band at

The Roxy Theatre The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 23, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along with ...

in Los Angeles, Bedard’s actual last appearance under the name Norman Iceberg was on the syndicated TV show ''Sheena Metal's Freakin' Rock Review'' in 1993. He also recorded as Norman Joseph in 1994 before deciding to go back to using Norman Bedard, his last birth name. Committed to his craft, and now on his own, Norman Bedard continued writing songs, working with collaborators such as Kevin Komoda (Rational Youth,

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

), and self-produced several pre-prod albums not available commercially, which revealed a more subdued side. Bedard’s newer material, recorded in various studios, offered the sound of a simple and mature man embracing life. With his goal of easing our souls, he termed his new music "zen pop". In November 2007, Norman announced via his website that a brand new album scheduled for release in 2008 was in the works. The album was confirmed to be titled ''Vital'' on March 9, 2009, with a release date set for Spring 2009. ''Vital'', and a remastered version of ''We Act'' were both released simultaneously on July 15, 2009. "Wonderful" was the first single from ''Vital'', released on March 2, 2010. Also released on the same date was Norman Iceberg's "Crawl" (Alternate Version), originally recorded in the 1990s at

’ home studio. On June 1, 2010, Bedard released the second single from his ''Vital'' album, "A Day With My Self", described by Richard Morris of

Pink Paper The ''Pink Paper'' was a UK publication covering gay and lesbian issues published by Millivres Prowler Limited. Founded in 1987 as a newspaper, it switched to internet-only publication in June 2009. The decision to go online-only was announced ...

as a "folky ditty". It was followed with the release of Norman Iceberg's ''1+1=2'', also recorded in the 1990s at Men Without Hats’ home studio and newly remastered in 2010. The following single, "Thank You", was released on October 4, 2010. Following this, Bedard gave us "Sleepytime". Adrian Cooke, in a review for ''Maverick'', called "Sleepytime" "a pop-flavoured song", saying "this is a gentle lullaby with sensitive vocal assisted by ethereal harmonies. Quality stuff". Norman's next single "Space" was released on February 8, 2011. Writer Jack Foley of ''IndieLondon'' called "Space" a "chilled pop record" and "the sort of offering that has an instant catchy appeal to it"."Music - Singles of the Week - February 21, 2011" (http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Music-sotw/music-singles-of-the-week-monday-february-21-2011), ''IndieLondon''

References

External links

Norman Bedard's official website

Official Norman Bedard MySpace page

Library and Archives Canada/Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

The Quebec Gay Archives/Archives gaies du Québec

Norman Iceberg
discography at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedard, Norman 1962 births Living people Canadian dance musicians Canadian male singers Canadian new wave musicians Canadian pop singers Gay singers Gay composers LGBT singers from Canada Gay songwriters Singers from Quebec Musicians from Trois-Rivières Synth-pop new wave musicians 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people Canadian male singer-songwriters