Jesse Labelle is a Country and Christian singer-songwriter. With a career spanning decades and genres, he has been the recipient of both Gold and Platinum records, and various Radio Music Awards. In June 2008, Labelle signed to Wax Records and began working on his debut album, ''Perfect Accident'', which would be released April 27, 2010. His second album, ''Two'', was released August 7, 2013. He is best known for his singles "Easier", " Heartbreak Coverup", and "One Last Night". In 2015, Jesse moved to Nashville TN and become a staple and a songwriting force in Music City. He has opened for Garth Brooks on his 2019 stadium tour, and been the only independent artist ever invited to play the main stage at the Stagecoach Festival, the largest and most prestigious country music festival in the world. After a car accident, tornado, cancer, and a violent shooting which left Jesse wounded, his story of finding God has taken his life’s path in a new direction, which can be reflected and heard in his music.

Early life

Born February 12, 1982 in Toronto, Ontario, Labelle first learned the guitar in his pre-teens, and played in a number of rock bands throughout high school. After graduation, Labelle discovered he had a knack for "picking apart songs" and began pursuing a career as a songwriter. Through the next couple of years, he wrote for local bands in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, New York City, and

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

as well as penning material for himself. A performance on

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

's ''

Speaker's Corner A Speakers' Corner is an area where free speech public speaking, open-air public speaking, debate, and discussion are allowed. The original and best known is in the north-east corner of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in London, England. Histor ...

'' programme caught the attention of up-and-coming singer

Fefe Dobson Felicia Lily Dobson (born February 28, 1985) is a Canadian singer. Born in Toronto, Ontario, she began performing as a teenager, during which time she received and refused an offer from Jive Records for a recording contract. Dobson signed with I ...

, who invited Labelle to write with her and perform in her band. None of these collaborations made it onto any of Dobson's studio albums, however this experience did bring Labelle into contact with songwriter/producer Jay Levine and ultimately led to a development deal with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. Sometime in the mid-2000s, talent scouts for Wax Records attended a showcase of Labelle's at a Toronto café, resulting in Labelle signing with the label in 2009.

2001 – 2002 : ''Identically Different (I.D)''

Identically Different, simply known as I.D, was a Canadian boyband that reached mild popularity in Canada throughout 2001. They released their self-titled debut album the same year with the lead single, "Busted" followed by "Let's Play" which both gained popularity on YTV's Hitlist and local FM radio stations. They split in 2002, as the boy band craze faded. Jesse Labelle was a member of the group alongside Gary Laranja, Joe Abbruscatto, Mark Ghezzo and Darryl Snider. They never released another album.

2003 : ''Electric Magma''

Labelle was the lead vocalist in Canadian rock band

Electric Magma Electric Magma is an instrumental heavy riff rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electric Magma was formed between 2000 and 2001 by Tryg Smith, Tim Reesor and Tom Brouard. Influenced by the stoner rock movement from the mid-1990s (Fu Manch ...

and appeared on one album (debut self-titled). By the end of 2003 Labelle left Electric Magma.

2014 – Present : ''Nashville''

Labelle was released from his recording commitments to Wax Records citing creative differences. Labelle had been pushing to move his musical vision south to Nashville to explore the town that he had made a second home over the years. Jesse fell into a writing circle with Casey Marshall, who had been responsible for the career development and songwriting for

Tim Hicks Tim Hicks (born August 22, 1979) is a Canadian country music singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. Since releasing his debut single " Get By" in 2012, he has had eighteen top ten hits on the Canada Country chart. His albums include: ' ...

Three Days Grace Three Days Grace is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Asphodel–Norwood, Norwood, Ontario, in 1992 originally as Groundswell. Groundswell played in various local Norwood backyard parties and area establishments before disbanding in 1 ...

, and

My Darkest Days My Darkest Days was a Canadian rock band based in Peterborough, Ontario, consisting of lead vocalist Matt Walst, bassist Brendan McMillan, drummer Doug Oliver, guitarist Sal Costa, and keyboardist Reid Henry. They were discovered by Chad Kroege ...

. Casey introduced Jesse to Neil Sanderson of Three Days Grace and the three began writing in Nashville. The resulting material from sessions with various co writers including

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesn ...

Chris Wallin Chris Wallin is an Australian geologist and businessman. He is the Managing Director of QCoal Group and Chairman of the QCoal Foundation. Early life Chris Wallin grew up in Moorooka, a suburb of Brisbane. His father was born in Eidsvold, Quee ...

Phil Barton Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root ter ...

will serve as Jesses 3rd commercial release, currently titled "EP" slated for release in 2015.

Tours

Labelle participated in

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

's 2010 SodaPop Tour alongside

Emily Osment Emily Jordan Osment (born March 10, 1992) is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti Gi ...

and labelmate

Alyssa Reid Alyssa Ashley Reid (born March 15, 1993) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her career began in 2008 on '' The Next Star''. She rose to fame in 2011, following the release of her single " Alone Again". From 2018-2020, she released music under the ...

. In 2012, Labelle toured the United Kingdom with Reid, and also opened for

Jordan Knight Jordan Nathaniel Marcel Knight (born May 17, 1970) is an American pop singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of the boy band New Kids on the Block (NKOTB), which rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s, using a falsetto style of singing infl ...

(of NKOTB) on the Canadian leg of Knight's "Live and Unfinished" Tour. In July 2014, Jesse joined

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban ( né Urbahn; 26 October 1967) is an Australian and American country singer, songwriter and guitarist. Recognised with four Grammy Awards, he has also received 15 Academy of Country Music Awards, including the Jim Reeves Int ...

on Canadian dates of his Raise 'Em Up Tour including the memorable performance at the Scotiabank Saddledome during the Calgary Stampede. In The Summer of 2015, Jesse will be appearing at the Boots & Hearts Music Festival in Ontario.

Discography

Studio albums

''I.D (Identically Different)'' ''Electric Magma'' ''Solo artist''

Extended plays

Singles

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labelle, Jesse 1982 births Living people 21st-century Canadian male singers Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian pop singers Singers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters