| Étienne | |
| Background: | solo_singer |
| Birth Name: | Steven Langlois |
| Birth Date: | 28 February 1971 |
| Birth Place: | Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
| Genre: | Rock, pop, hip-hop, electronic |
| Occupation: | Singer, recording artist, producer |
| Instrument: | Vocals, piano, keyboard, guitar, drums |
| Years Active: | [1993–present] |
| Label: | Warner Music Canada |
| Associated Acts: | DJ DELF, Roland Bibeau, Nous |
Étienne is the stage name of Canadian musician Steven Douglas Langlois (born February 28, 1971). He has performed sold-out concert tours in theaters and arenas across Canada, the United States, China, New Zealand and Australia.[1]
Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Étienne began performing at the young age of nine and a half years old.[2] While attending the University of Windsor, where he graduated with a B.A. in French Language and Literature and a B.Ed., he began composing his first few educational songs while attending Teachers' College in 1993. His career as an educational performing artist began by accident in February 1994 when he shared a few songs he had composed with some teaching colleagues at a district school board meeting in Stratford, Ontario. It was at this meeting where he was jokingly crowned with the stage-name "Étienne" (the French translation of his birth name Steven). Étienne recorded his first album, self-titled "Étienne" that same summer. Étienne has since released nine French albums, two English albums, and two Spanish albums.
In 1999, he released the first of his two Spanish albums which were both followed by concert tours in the United States. In 2003 and 2004, he released two English language albums for students. Those albums were distributed by Pacific Music/Warner Music Canada. Étienne was nicknamed the "Eminem of educational French music" by some of the teachers who became exposed to his music.
After 13 album releases and tireless touring, Étienne has built a worldwide fan-base among educators and students alike.[3] Probably the most recognizable fan of Étienne is popstar Justin Bieber who sang the Étienne song "Avoir II" live on national TV in France on the Canal+ segment La boîte à questions in 2012.
On top of recording albums and producing videos, Étienne has authored, consulted, and composed for several international school programs produced by leading educational companies including Thomson Nelson, Oxford University Press, Pearson Education, Prentice Hall, Ginn, Gage Canada, Xpresslab, and Denmark's Forlag Malling Beck.
In 2014, Étienne surprised fans by releasing an album under a different stage name: DJ DELF.[4] In May 2018, Educorock signed an independent Canadian musician who took on the role of DJ DELF. Étienne continues to perform concerts under his original stage name. Étienne is currently working on a 25th-anniversary release complete with remixes of fan-voted favorites with help from new educational artists Nate Vedette, Guy Tariste, Mike Musique, and DJ DELF, with whom Étienne tours.
In 2019, YouTuber and heavy metal drummer Joey Muha released a video where he played along to Étienne's song "Avoir II".
Étienne was featured in the 2019 documentary Pourquoi Take French?: 25 Years of Étienne which focused on his career and its impact on teachers, students, and musicians alike. In conjunction with the documentary, Étienne released "Étienne XXV": a greatest hits album featuring fan-selected favorites. These songs were then remixed and re-recorded with the help of artists Nate Vedette, Mike Musique, Guy Tarise, and DJ DELF.
Now residing in LaSalle, Ontario, teaching at Sandwich Secondary School, he has taught English, French, and History to students from grades one to twelve.