...> Yves Frulla
Yves Frulla has been playing the keyboard for Celine since the 1990 "Unison Tour". He also recorded "All by myself" on the "Falling Into You" album in 1996. He was doing various shows with Celine, as well as working on Garou´s English album. He also worked on the soundtrack for a film.
Frulla has also recorded music for many TV commercials, and demo tapes for singers and songwriters. Frulla nickname, given to him by Celine is "dark-viber". Frulla is a trained keyboardist and MIDI programmer. He toured with Quebec artist Michael Breen, and Sass Jordan before joining Celine´s team. Frulla told how he got the job with Celine. "I auditioned in 1990 in a small theater that they rented for the auditions. They gave me three songs from the Unison album to program (on the keyboard) and play with the band that was there at the time", said Frulla. He says Celine on tour is extremely nice on tour and also very generous. "We have always a good laugh when she´s around, she´s a party girl when she wants to be", said Frulla.
[ André Coutu, Yves Frulla and Claude "Mégo" Lemay ]
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...> Jean-Sebastien Carre
Jean-Sebastien is the violinist (sometimes guitarist and backing vocalist) of Celine Dion band. He joined Celine´s team for her first residency show "A New Day..." at the Colosseum of the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, USA in 2003. He continued working with Celine on the "Taking Chances Tour" and on the second residency show in Vegas, "Celine".
Carre born on February 19, 1977, he lived his childhood in a small village called St-Raphael de Bellechasse in the suburbs of Quebec, Canada. Very young (3), he began taking violin lessons, instrument he particularly appreciates despite its age. Already, he gave concerts for violin classmates in elementary school, then he starts singing on stage while he was in high school. His first band was called FeedBack, and at the age of 15 he was already performing in bars. Then, Carre enrolled at the Cégep de Sainte-Foy in music (violin and vocals), before continuing at CEGEP St. Laurent Jazz interpretation. He began his professional career year doing radio ads and accompanying Mario Chenart, including opening for Bruno Pelletier at the Festival d´été de Québec (Quebec City Summer Festival). After meeting with guitarist/producer Réjean Lachance (Richard Seguin, Martine St-Clair, Roch Voisine), he began recording his first album under the direction of Réjean also signing arrangements.
[ Neil Evans, Carré and Claude "Mego" Lemay in England in May 2008 ]
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BACK-UP SINGERS
...> Barnev Valsaint
Barnev Valsaint is one of Celine´s backup vocalists since the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour", after replaced the former backup vocalist, Terry Bradford. Valsaint has accompanied Celine on several duet songs during the tours and shows with the band.
Growing up in Montreal, Canada where the population is divided between French and English as the predominant language, Valsaint started his education on the north side of Montreal, where he spoke French as his first language. "I went to school, which was taught in French and spoke French at home", he recalled, then moved to west Montreal. "Once we moved to the west island, all my friends spoke English". Valsaint started a band with two of his friends in 1993 called NoDéjà and so far they only have one album out, called "NoDéjà". Valsaint said "Celine wanted me to come on tour because her former backup vocalist, Terry Bradford, decided he´d been touring long enough and wanted to do other things. They called me in for an audition and it was between me and another guy. They sent the videotape to Celine and she said, I want Barnev. I was only supposed to be on tour with her during her Let´s Talk About Love world tour. Basically, I was just filling in for Terry and was only supposed to go for that one tour. Then once that tour ended, they asked me to stay. They were such good people, and my group basically deteriorated because everyone wanted to do their own thing. I decided I might as well stay with Celine, and have been with her ever since". He told that when he worked for the first time with Celine, she affectionately said to him "Make yourself at home; if you need anything, ask for it. Welcome to the family". Valsaint said "so that for a moment, I forgot that I was in the presence of an international megastar".
[ Barnev Valsaint and Élise Duguay ]
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...> Élise Duguay
Élise Duguay is one of Celine´s backing singers and first worked for Celine in 1988 but only became a full-time member of the team in 1994. Duguay is married to Dennis Savage, Celine´s sound engineer, who she met on the tour. Duguay played the flute during "My heart will go on", and the cello (during "Call the man" in the "Falling Into You tour"). She also played the keyboard during some of the songs.
Duguay has toured with people such as Garou and Isabelle Boulay. She sang backing vocals on Isabelle´s album "Mieux Qu´Ici Bas" in the songs "Jamais assez loin", "Trop de choses", "Le coeur combat" and "Quand vos coeurs m´appellent". She also sang on the album "Etats D´amour". Duguay has a solid reputation in the Quebec musical world: her voice, warm and rich, has led her to the largest cities of the world. The talented Duguay acknowledges not being attracted to becoming a solo artist. She prefers, to remain in the background and work with musical harmony. Chorus-singer with the small screen for the first time for the television show "RSVP", and then in "Beau et Chaud" (1988-1992), Duguay then took part, in 1989 and 1990, with the tour of Quebec rocker Roch Voisine. She sang and played of the cello for the Cirque Du Soleil in Japan in 1992, and obtained several contracts as a freelancer. She returned to work for Celine when she went to join her (now) husband Denis Savage, who had worked as sound engineer for Celine for several years already. On February 7, 1994 Duguay went to join him in Los Angeles, USA. They were not married at the time yet. And on her first day there, Claude Lemay, the bandleader of Celine, told her that one of the chorus-singers left the tour. He then asked her if she was interested in working with them. She accepted and a few weeks later and on February 25, 1994 she went to Celine´s concert in Boston, USA where Mego gave her a tape of the show. So that she could learn the words, to know where to sing, to practice the choreography. She had only one week to prepare for her first show. The first show of Celine´s in which she took part took was in Toronto, Canada on March 5, 1994. Since then, she has performed everywhere in the world. "Celine, makes all the difference. She eats, laughs, dances and has fun with us. She does not spend all of her time locked in her hotel room. She spends time with the musicians, technicians, with the truck-drivers. She is cordial, maternal and very protective. If somebody is sick, you can be sure that Celine is the first to be worried. Another example: after each concert, when the audience has left the building, she thanks all the team by the portable radio. It should be done that way by everyone", said Duguay.
[ Julie Leblanc and Duguay ] [ Leblanc, Celine and Valsaint ]
...> Dawn Cumberbatch
Dawn Cumberbatch is one of Celine´s backing singers. She joined Celine´s team for the second residency show "Celine", at the Colosseum of the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, USA after replaced the former backing singers, Mary-Lou Gauthier.
[ Dawn Cumberbatch, Élise Duguay and Barnev Valsaint ]
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FORMER MEMBERS
...> Julie Leblanc
Julie LeBlanc was one of Celine´s backing singers. She has been touring with Celine since the Memphis, USA concerts in 1997 (from the "Falling Into You Tour"). During the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour", LeBlanc not only sang but also played the keyboard on some of the songs (for example "Je crois toi". During her break from working with Celine, LeBlanc toured with people such as Lara Fabian. She also gave singing lessons, as well as being a backing musician forartists recording their albums.
LeBlanc sang backing vocals for Isabelle Boulay on her album "Mieux Qu´ici Bas" on the songs "J´amais assez loin", and "Quand vos coeurs m´appellent". Isabelle described Julie as "the beautiful one, the thin one and the reassuring one" of her singers. "Before each concert, all three of us (the backing singers) would spend half an hour doing singing exercises, and it sometimes happened to us déconner. I feel privileged to have these invaluable memories with Celine. We have all enormously progressed on both personal and vocal matters", said LeBlanc. After the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour", LeBlanc left the band.
[ Julie Leblanc, Barnev Valsaint and Élise Duguay ]
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...> Mary-Lou Gauthier
Mary-Lou Gauthier was one of Celine´s backing singers. Gauthier joined Celine´s team for her first residency show "A New Day..." at the Colosseum of the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, USA in 2003 (replacing former backing singer, Julie Leblanc). Gauthier continued working with Celine on the "Taking Chances Tour" but after that tour, she left the band.
Gauthier´s musical heritage goes back to her great-aunt Eva Gauthier, a celebrated vocalist who performed with George Gershwin and introduced him to Maurice Ravel. By the age of 9, Gauthier was soloing at St. Patrick´s Basilica in Montreal, Canada and she hasn´t stopped singing since. At 10, she made her first radio appearance, by 16, she had won a nationally televised talent competition. Inspired by her mother, singer Patricia Hinton, and her mentor, James Sarroino, Gauthier continued to explore her vocal gifts and soon discovered a lasting love for R&B and gospel music. Gauthier´s voice has taken her from gospel choirs in her teens to rock´n´ roll in her 20s, when she was the lead singer for the group Milkwood, to singing and recording with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Her talents have graced stages and studios around the world, she brings a powerful soprano R&B voice to albums, film music, commercials and live shows. Gauthier is also an acclaimed songwriter. She later led the band Toulouse before taking a break to raise her children. Gauthier has knows Celine since 1985, she also works as part of the songwriting and producing team with Celine´s drummer, Dominique Messier, and bassist, Marc Langis.
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...> Terry Bradford
Terry Bradford was a backing singer for Celine and was replaced by Barnev Valsaint during the "Let´s Talk About Love Tour". Bradford has accompanied Celine on the duet song "Beauty and the beast" during the "Falling Into You Tour" (replacing singer Peabo Bryson).
There were rumours that he was ill, or Celine had asked him to leave, but the official story is that he was recording a solo album. He has sung on the soundtracks of films such as "The Lion King" and "Amistad".
[ Élise Duguay, Bradford and former backing singer, Rachelle Jeanty ]
