Marcel Francois Chagnon (born February 9, 1975), known professionally as Marcel, is an American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer, songwriter, and music video director. Signed to
Mercury Nashville Records in 2003, he released his debut album ''You, Me, and the Windshield'' that year and charted on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States.
This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...
charts with the single "Country Rock Star". Five years later, he signed to
Lyric Street Records and released the single "I Love This Song", which has also charted. In addition to his recording career, Marcel has directed several music videos, and has written charted singles for
Josh Gracin,
Trace Adkins
Tracy Darrell Adkins (born January 13, 1962) known professionally as Trace Adkins, is an American country music singer and actor. Adkins made his debut in 1996 with the album ''Dreamin' Out Loud'', released on Capitol Records Nashville. Since t ...
, and
Jessica Andrews, to whom he is married.
Career
Born in
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Grosse Pointe is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 5,678.
Grosse Pointe is an eastern suburb of Metro Detroit along La ...
, Marcel was a
semi-pro hockey
''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
player until signing with
Mercury Nashville Records in 2002.
For four years prior to this, while waiting for an opportunity, he sang at clubs, bars, and waited tables for extra money.
In 2003, he released his debut album ''
You, Me and the Windshield''.
The tracks "Country Rock Star" and "Tennessee" from this album were released as singles. After this he returned to writing songs for other artists.
Marcel has co-written two of
Josh Gracin's singles: "
Nothin' to Lose", which previously appeared on ''You, Me and the Windshield'', and "
Favorite State of Mind".
Jessica Andrews also released two of his songs as singles: "
There's More to Me Than You" and "Everything".
Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts is an American Country music, country music band formed in 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee. The band consists of Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background voc ...
,
LeAnn Rimes
Margaret LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (born August 28, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She originally rose to success as a country music artist at the age of 13 and has since crossed over into pop, contemporary Christian, and o ...
, and
Big & Rich
Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich, both of whom are songwriters, vocalists, and guitarists. Before the duo's foundation, Rich was bass guitarist in the country band Lonestar, while Kenny was a sol ...
have also recorded his songs.
In 2008, Marcel signed to
Lyric Street Records, releasing his third single, "I Love This Song" that year.
When the song failed to reach Top 40, he exited Lyric Street's roster. In February 2009, he signed to the Red Stripe Plane label. He had a cameo in ''
Hannah Montana: The Movie'', playing guitar in
Billy Ray Cyrus
William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...
' band. He is also shown in Cyrus' video for "
Back to Tennessee".
On February 17, 2009, Marcel released his fourth single, "Believin'", which is also the title track to his second album. The album was released on the Red Stripe Plane label, but neither the album or single charted on any ''Billboard'' chart. In June 2010, Marcel released a new single titled "It's Summertime." Later in the year, Marcel began directing
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
s for other artists.
Personal life
Marcel became engaged to
Jessica Andrews in October 2010, and the two were married on November 11, 2011. Andrews gave birth to the couple's son
Rockwell Francois Chagnon on February 6, 2018. They had a daughter in 2022.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Music videos
Music videos directed
32 music videos are currently listed here.
References
External links
Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcel
American country harmonica players
American country singer-songwriters
Living people
Singer-songwriters from Michigan
People from Grosse Pointe, Michigan
American music video directors
Mercury Records artists
Lyric Street Records artists
1975 births
Country musicians from Michigan
21st-century American singer-songwriters