Jonathan Piuze-Roy (born March 15, 1989) is a Canadian pop singer, songwriter, and former

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He is the son of

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

goaltender

Patrick Roy Patrick Jacques Roy (; born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach, executive and former player who is the head coach for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL). Roy previously served as head coach for ...

. Initially pursuing a hockey career in junior leagues, Roy switched paths in favour of music in 2007 after his father encouraged him away from hockey. He has released three albums, and his major-label debut, ''Mr. Optimist Blues'', was released in 2017, which includes several songs written by 1980s pop star Corey Hart.

Early life

Roy's father is famed Montreal Canadiens goaltender

. He moved with his family from

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

to Colorado when he was six years old, due to his father being traded. Roy was influenced by his mother's frequent piano playing for the family as he was growing up. He wrote poetry from the age of 13 or 14, and began putting his poems to music around age 16. At age 17, Roy played hockey for the

Quebec Remparts The Quebec Remparts () are a Canadian junior ice hockey based in Quebec City, Quebec. The team plays in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and is named after the Ramparts of Quebec City (). There have been two franchises name ...

, with his father coaching the team at the time. Although he enjoyed goaltending, he dreamed of a music career, and was listening to the

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson (musician), Kevin Richardson. The band formed in 1993 in Orlando, Flori ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

, and

Ray LaMontagne Raymond Charles Jack LaMontagne (; born June 18, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. LaMontagne has released nine studio albums: '' Trouble'', ''Till the Sun Turns Black'', '' Gossip in the Grain'', '' God Willin' & the Creek Don ...

. At 18, when his father told him that his future would not be in hockey and that he needed to plan an education, Roy told his father that he wanted to be a musician and songwriter. In 2009 Roy was charged with assault following an incident during a hockey brawl where he skated the length of the ice and attacked the opposing goaltender, punching him several times.

Music career

Roy's album ''What I've Become'' came out in 2009. His second album, ''Found My Way'', came out in 2010. He released his French-language debut album, ''La route'', in 2011. The title track, a duet with

Natasha St-Pier Natasha St-Pier (born 10 February 1981) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and television presenter. She is of Acadian heritage, and grew up in the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River valley of New Brunswick, but has spent most of ...

, received the most attention. Roy had a critically acclaimed role in the 2012 revival of the musical ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...

''. In 2012, his father helped him set up a meeting with 1980s pop singer Corey Hart, who runs Siena Records, an affiliate of

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

. Hart offered to sign him to his label after Roy performed a

Teddy Thompson Teddy Thompson (born 19 February 1976) is an English folk and rock musician. He is the son of folk rock musicians Richard and Linda Thompson and brother of singer Kamila Thompson. He released his first album in 2000. Biography Teddy Thompso ...

song for him at Hart's home in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. Roy and Hart had a hit holiday release in 2016 when they duetted on the

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

song "Driving Home for Christmas". In 2017, Roy released the album ''Mr. Optimist Blues'' on Siena Records, Corey Hart's music label. Hart executive-produced the album, and wrote three of the album's songs. The ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

s music critic characterizes the style as "easygoing 21st-century pop with a little light reggae thrown in for good measure. Think Ed Sheeran meets Paolo Nutini and then slap on Bob Marley’s greatest hits." Roy is based in Toronto. He frequently collaborates with Kim Richardson as a duet or backing vocalist. In 2023, he participated in an all-star recording of

Serena Ryder Serena Lauren Ryder (born December 8, 1982) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Born in Toronto, she grew up in Millbrook, Ontario. Ryder first gained national recognition with her ballad "Weak in the Knees" in 2007 and has released eight studio ...

's single "

What I Wouldn't Do "What I Wouldn't Do" is a song performed by Canadian singer-songwriter Serena Ryder, which was released as a single in November 2012. The song was written by Ryder and Jerrod Bettis for Ryder's fifth studio album, ''Harmony (Serena Ryder album), ...

", which was released as a charity single to benefit

Kids Help Phone Kids Help Phone () is a Canadian charitable organization that provides online and telephone counselling and volunteer-led, text-based support in English and French to youth across Canada. Kids Help Phone also provides information on how to acc ...

's Feel Out Loud campaign for youth mental health.Brent Furdyk
"Feel Out Loud: Alessia Cara, Serena Ryder & More Canadian Artists Collaborate On New Single Promoting Youth Mental Health Initiative"
''

Entertainment Tonight Canada ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'' (commonly shortened to ''ET Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series that aired on the Global Television Network from 2005 to 2023. Its branding and format were based on the American entertainm ...

'', March 2, 2023.

Discography

Albums

* ''What I've Become'' (2009) – No. 18 Canada * ''Found My Way'' (2010) * ''La route'' (2011) * ''Mr. Optimist Blues'' (2017) – No. 3 Canada * ''My Lullaby'' (2021) – No. 99 Canada * ''Life Distortions'' (2023) * ''Symphony of Doubts, Part 1'' (2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roy, Jonathan 1989 births Living people Canadian pop singers People from Pointe-Claire Singers from Quebec 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers Quebec Remparts players