Éric Lapointe

Though Éric Lapointe built his reputation as a gruff-voiced rocker who looked like he’d just stepped off his Harley, he’s always balanced the tough with the tender. That ability to bare his heart while retaining all his tattoos-and-skull-rings swagger may be the biggest reason Lapointe became one of Quebec’s most popular performers. Born in Montreal in 1969, Lapointe was a passionate student of blues, punk, and hard rock who first started slugging it out on the bar-band circuit when still a teenager. A tough-edged set that combined thunderous ‘70s rock with moodier grunge stylings, Lapointe’s 1994 debut, Obsession, launched a series of platinum-selling albums and chart-topping singles. But for every fist-pumping anthem like “Les Boys”—his theme song for the 1997 hockey movie of the same name—there were songs as soft-hearted as “Mon ange,” the 1999 power ballad that’s one of his most enduring love songs.