| Michel Lemieux | |
| Birth Date: | 13 February 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Origin: | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Instrument: | Vocals |
| Genre: | rock, experimental |
| Occupation: | Multimedia artist, singer |
| Years Active: | 1970s-present |
| Associated Acts: | Victor Pilon, La La La Human Steps, Cirque du Soleil |
Michel Lemieux (born February 13, 1959) is a Canadian multimedia artist from Quebec,[1] whose career has incorporated work in theatrical design, installation art, film, video, dance and music.[2] First coming to prominence in the early 1980s as a performance artist whose work explored the integration of new media technologies into experimental pop music in a manner similar to Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson,[3] more recently he has concentrated primarily on creating, designing, directing and producing multimedia theatrical presentations for events, theatrical companies and other artists.
A 1979 graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada,[2] Lemieux composed music for dance and theatrical troupes including La La La Human Steps,[4] and did performance art work in Montreal before breaking through to wider success with his 1984 show Solide Salade.[2] The show, a complex performance piece which incorporated film and video projections, music, dance and visual and lighting design,[5] had a successful sold-out run in Montreal before touring venues across North America, Europe and Japan.[6]
In 1986, Lemieux performed the show at Expo 86,[7] and signed to the record label Audiogram,[8] with whom he released a self-titled album of songs from Solide Salade.[9] He won the CASBY Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist,[10] was nominated for the Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the Juno Awards of 1986,[11] and garnered two Prix Félix nominations for Best English-Language Pop/Rock Album and Best Video ("Romantic Complications").[12]
In 1988, he premiered his new show Mutations at the arts festival of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta,[13] and released the album Taming the Power Inside.[14] He toured Mutations across Canada,[15] and at World Expo 88 in Australia.[16] Taming the Power Inside was again a Félix nominee for Best English Pop/Rock Album.[17]
In 1990, he premiered his first works co-created with Victor Pilon instead of as a solo artist; Pilon has since been Lemieux's creative and business partner in most of his subsequent work.[18] Their first works together were Lemieux's new performance piece Free Fall,[3] and Le Souffle de Pythagore, a holographic video dance work which was Lemieux's first work created for another performer.[19] In 1991, Lemieux and Pilon created In Mid Air, a theatrical piece about the then-imminent transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese control which was created for Hong Kong's Festival 2000.[20]
In 1992, Lemieux and Pilon created Têtes Chercheuses, a commissioned performance piece for the 25th anniversary of Montreal's Saidye Bronfman Centre,[21] and created and designed concert performances for UZEB[22] and Michel Rivard,[20] while Lemieux collaborated with Richard Blackburn on the design and staging of the parade to kick off Montreal's 350th anniversary celebrations.[23]
Lemieux and Pilon have since collaborated on works including Grand Hôtel des Étrangers,[20] the stage design and direction of the Prix Félix ceremony in 1995, theatrical adaptations of Jean Cocteau's Orféo,[24] William Shakespeare's The Tempest[18] and Luc Plamondon's Starmania, and Cirque du Soleil's 2006 show Delirium.[18]
Lemieux was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012,[25] and a Chévalier of the National Order of Quebec in 2014.[26]
Lemieux is openly gay.[27] He has stated that while his work addresses universal themes rather than gay-specific ones, he does consider his sexuality to influence his creative perspective.[27]