Jean Leclerc (born May 14, 1961) is a Québécois singer-songwriter and author from Sainte-Foy,

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 ...

, Canada. He is popularly known as Jean Leloup (which he likes to translate to John the Wolf), a

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

he kept using until 2006, when he temporarily changed his name to Jean Leclerc, only to resurrect his wolf character in August 2008. He is known for his colourful personality and unique musical style in the

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 ...

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 ...

community.

Biography

Born in Sainte-Foy in 1961 to Québécois parents, Jean Leclerc grew up in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, more precisely in

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

and

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. The culture and way of life of his host country had an important influence on him and influenced many of his songs. He learned to play guitar by listening to the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

and

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

. He was also influenced by colorful French music icons such as

Jacques Dutronc Jacques Dutronc (born 28 April 1943) is a French singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer, and actor. He married singer Françoise Hardy on 30 March 1981 and together they have a son (manouche jazz) guitarist Thomas Dutronc, born 1973); they sep ...

Jacques Higelin Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin (; 18 October 1940 – 6 April 2018) was a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early life Higelin was born on 18 October 1940. His father, Paul, a railway worker and musician of Alsatian de ...

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

and

Michel Polnareff Michel Polnareff (born 3 July 1944, Nérac, Lot-et-Garonne, France) is a French singer-songwriter, who was popular in France from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s with his penultimate original album, ''Kāma-Sūtra''. He is still critically ...

. He returned to

in 1976, and appeared on the music scene in the 1980s. In 1983, he was noticed at the Festival international de la chanson de Granby and participated in the rock opera Starmania in 1986. However, he quickly distanced himself from the latter because of its "clean" character. Opting for the stage name of Jean Leloup (nicknamed John the Wolf by fans and by himself), he appeared on stage in Montreal in the late 1980s. From the beginning of his career, he made waves with his provocative lyrics--in his song "1990", he compares the high-tech actions of

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

to his sexual activities with his girlfriend. His 1990 album ''L'amour est sans pitié'' was a

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

outside of Quebec, and was released in the rest of Canada,

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 ...

, the

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Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was the recipient of 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 p ...

in 1997, following the success of his 1996 album ''Le Dôme''. At the end of 2003, Leclerc retired the name ''Jean Leloup'' and went on hiatus from his recording career. In August 2005, he announced his temporary return to the music scene with a collaboration with a band called the

Porn Flakes Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

. A first single called "Les Corneilles" has been heard on

's radio stations. In the months preceding his return, Leclerc wrote the philosophical novel ' (originally entitled ') under the pen name Massoud Al-Rachid; it was published on October 5, 2005 at Leméac editions. Leclerc released the album ''Mexico'' in September 2006, his first under the name Jean Leclerc. Jean Leclerc returned to the stage on August 29, 2008 for the 400th year of Quebec City's founding. He revived the name Jean Leloup for the occasion. The show was held at the

Colisée Pepsi Colisée may refer to: Canada * Colisée de Québec, also known as Colisée Pepsi, Quebec City * Colisée Cardin, Sorel-Tracy * Colisée Desjardins, Victoriaville * Colisée Financière Sun Life, Rimouski * Colisée Jean Béliveau, Longueuil * Colis ...

. Although controversial, Jean Leclerc mentioned that the "last hour of the show was the best of his life". Under the name ''Jean Leloup'', Leclerc released the album ''Mille Excuses Milady'' (translated to "a thousand apologies, Milady") on April 28, 2009, the first since he publicly declared that he wouldn't produce another album. In 2016, his album ''À Paradis City'' was nominated for the

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 ...

for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

, and won the

Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year The Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year is an annual award presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) for the best French-language album in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten pro ...

. He received another Juno Award nomination for Francophone Album of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 2020 The Juno Awards of 2020, the 49th Juno Awards, was an awards presentation that was to be held at SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 15 March 2020. The awards and associated events were cancelled due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pan ...

, for his 2019 album ''L'Étrange pays''.Melody Lau
"Alessia Cara and Tory Lanez lead the 2020 Juno nominations"

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, January 28, 2019.

Discography

*1989: ''Menteur'' *1990: ''L'amour est sans pitié'' *1996: ''Le Dôme'' *1998: ''Les Fourmis'' *2002: ''La Vallée des réputations'' *2004: ''Exit'' (live album) *2005: ''Je joue de la guitare 1985–2003'' (compilation) *2006: ''Mexico'' (as Jean Leclerc) *2009: ''Mille excuses Milady'' *2015: ''À Paradis City'' *2019: ''L'Étrange Pays''

Collaborations

*1997: ''

Glee Glee means delight, a form of happiness. Glee may also refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...

'' (with

Bran Van 3000 Bran Van 3000 (also known as BV3) is a Canadian alternative rock and hip hop collective from Montreal, Quebec. Founded by James Di Salvio and E.P. Bergen, they collaborated on a number of songs with Stéphane Moraille, Sara Johnston, Steve "Liqui ...

) *2001: '' Discosis'' (with Bran Van 3000) *2002: ''Jouisseland'' by

Martin Villeneuve Martin Villeneuve () is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, director, actor, and art director. He was nominated at the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Awards, Genie Award) in 2013 for Best Adapted Screenplay, for ''Mars et Avril'', his featur ...

Jean Leloup – Jouisseland
Vimeo, April 15, 2019 *2011: ''The Last Assassins'' (with The Last Assassins)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leloup, Jean 1961 births Living people French Quebecers Musicians from Quebec City Canadian singer-songwriters People from Sainte-Foy, Quebec City French-language singers of Canada Audiogram (label) artists Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year winners Félix Award winners

Biography

Discography

Collaborations

See also

References

External links