Ivan Eugene Doroschuk (, ) (born 9 October 1957) is an American-born Canadian musician. He is the lead vocalist and founding member of

Men Without Hats Men Without Hats are a Canadians, Canadian New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band, originally from Montreal, Quebec. Their music is characterized by the baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk, as well as their elaborate use of s ...

, best known for the songs "

The Safety Dance "The Safety Dance" is a song by Canadian new wave/synth-pop band Men Without Hats, released in Canada in 1982 as the second single from '' Rhythm of Youth''. The song was written by lead singer Ivan Doroschuk after he had been ejected from a ...

" (1982) and " Pop Goes the World" (1987).

Early life

Ivan Doroschuk was born on 9 October 1957 in Champaign, Illinois, to Ukrainian-Canadian parents Eugene and Betty Doroschuk. Doroschuk and his younger brothers Stefan and Colin were born in the United States while their father was pursuing a doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Eugene Doroschuk received his PhD in 1962, and accepted a teaching position at the Université de Montréal. Betty Doroschuk became a member of the music faculty at Montreal's McGill University, teaching classical voice. The three brothers, all classically trained musicians, grew up in the Montreal borough of

Snowdon Snowdon (), or (), is a mountain in Snowdonia in North Wales. It has an elevation of above sea level, which makes it both the highest mountain in Wales and the highest in the British Isles south of the Scottish Highlands. Snowdon i ...

. In 1976, at the age of 18, Doroschuk briefly studied law in the south of France, returning to Montreal in 1977. At McGill University, he was a student in the Film and Communications program.

Musical career

Doroschuk formed the Canadian new wave/synthpop group

in 1977, earning worldwide success with "

" in 1983 and " Pop Goes the World" in 1987. Men Without Hats started out as a new wave band, but the band's sound changed throughout the 1980s, adding more rock influence and transitioning to hard rock by the end of 1990. In 1997, recording under the name Ivan, he released a solo album, '' The Spell'', followed by a 1999 tour to promote the album. Doroschuk attempted to revive Men Without Hats in 2003 with his release of the band's comeback album '' No Hats Beyond This Point'', but did not reform the group for a tour or live performances. The studio album used material originally intended for Doroschuk's unreleased second solo album ''Mote in God's Eye''. Apart from a 2003 interview on VH1's ''True Spin'', and a 2008

SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...

Awards Gala where he was presented with an award for "The Safety Dance", Doroschuk made few public appearances during the 2000s. In 2010, a full revival and reformation of the group Men Without Hats took place, with Doroschuk recruiting three new members. In 2012, they released the album '' Love in the Age of War'', in which Doroschuk returned the band to its early-1980s

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

sound by creating an intentional follow-up album to 1982's '' Rhythm of Youth''.

Personal life

Doroschuk married in the late 1990s but later divorced. He has one son and was a stay-at-home father before reforming Men Without Hats. He resides in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doroschuk, Ivan 1957 births Living people American emigrants to Canada American people of Ukrainian descent Canadian baritones Canadian male singers Canadian new wave musicians Canadian pop singers Canadian rock singers Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Male new wave singers Musicians from Victoria, British Columbia Musicians from Champaign, Illinois Singers from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Men Without Hats members