Martin Deschamps (born 23 June 1970) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

singer from

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He records and performs both as a solo artist and as the lead vocalist for the reunited Offenbach.

Young age

Deschamps was born with congenital deformities of all four limbs; he is missing both his left arm and right leg, and has only two fingers on his right hand. At the age of nine, his family moved to

Rawdon, Quebec Rawdon is a municipality located on the Ouareau River in southwestern Quebec, Canada, about 60 kilometres north of Montreal. It is the seat for the Matawinie Regional County Municipality, Regional County Municipality of Matawinie, in the Lanaudi� ...

. During his youth, his handicap was not mocked in school. He entertained his student friends in class and maintained good enough grades to be the first of his class. He started playing the drums when he reached 11 years of age, and by the age of 15, he was playing

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

and started singing. From 1989 to 1995 he was a graphic designer for Bell company. The first band he played in was called ''Any Way,'' as their drummer. Knowing he wanted to become a band leader, he formed his own group called ''Deep Freeze''.

Career

His musical career began in 1996, with that group. He was named best vocalist in the '' L'Empire des futures stars'' competition. He was subsequently invited to join rock band Offenbach on a reunion tour as the replacement for the late

Gerry Boulet Joseph Gaétan Robert Gérald (Gerry) Boulet (March 1, 1946 – July 18, 1990) was a French Canadian rock singer.

, and immediately departed on a 50-show tour. Then he released his own solo debut, ''Comme je suis'', in 2000. Selling 60,000 copies in Quebec, the album spawned three hit singles and was nominated for three

Félix Award The Félix Award ( is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian province of Quebec. The award The firs ...

s, for best new artist, best rock album and best single ("Quand"). For his second album, 2001's ''Différent'', he donated a portion of the profits to Montreal's

Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine The Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine (CHU Sainte-Justine) is the largest mother and child centre in Canada and one of the four most important pediatric centres in North America. It is affiliated with the Université de Montréal, l ...

, and subsequently became a spokesperson for the province's ''Semaine des personnes handicapées''. He subsequently recorded two songs for the soundtrack to

Denise Filiatrault Denise Filiatrault, (born May 16, 1931) is a Canadian actress and director. Biography Filiatrault attained star status on TV in the 1960s, co-starring with Dominique Michel in the Radio-Canada television series '' Moi et l'autre'' (1967–71 ...

's film ''

Alice's Odyssey ''Alice's Odyssey'' () is a Canadian family comedy fantasy film, directed by Denise Filiatrault and released in 2002. The film stars Sophie Lorain as Alice Tremblay, a single mother who becomes drawn into the fairy tale that she is reading to he ...

(L'Odyssée d'Alice Tremblay)'' and a duet with

Lynda Lemay Lynda Lemay (born 25 July 1966) is a Canadian francophone singer-songwriter. Through her mother she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier. After winning regional awards in 1989 she went to France and regularly tours in Quebec and France, includi ...

, and mounted a successful concert tour in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. His third album, ''Le Désert'', was released in 2003. That album's single "Vérité" spent five weeks at #1 on Quebec's pop charts. Offenbach subsequently released the album ''Nature'' in 2005, and Deschamps toured with the band that year. He performed during the

2010 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Paralympics, or the X Paralympic Games were held on March 12, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm Pacific Time Zone, PST (02:00 UTC, March 13) at the BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The open ...

. He performed at the

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

for

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

, deceased leader of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, on 27 August 2011. He released a Christmas CD in December 2012. It features his daughter. In an interview with fellow disabled person Elizabeth, he cites Metallica, AC/DC and PATOFFE as his greatest musical inspirations. Martin Deschamps performed in 2004 for the anti-smoking group Commando Oxygene at la TOHU. He sang a cover of "I feel good" by James Brown. He began the performance by discussing his history of smoking, and after declaring that he was now a non-smoker he said "Boy, do I feel good" and danced on stage. He owns a custom made Harley Davidson, which has been built so that he can ride it without arms and legs.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Deschamps, Martin Canadian rock singers Singers from Montreal Canadian amputees Living people 1970 births Amputee musicians Singers with disabilities French-language singers of Canada Participants in Canadian reality television series 21st-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian singers