Despite his soulful, raspy voice and down to earth good looks, Quebec's Garou was a virtual unknown before snagging the lead role of Quasimodo in the Luc Plamondon musical comedy Notre Dame de Paris. Before that, Garou and his band, The Untouchables, were performing blues and soul songs in English around Montreal's bar scene. Now, Garou is going to release his first solo album, as well as appear on the English version of the Notre Dame soundtrack. When the play opens on Broadway next year, he will still be in the title role opposite Mariah Carey as Esmeralda, the female lead. But even though at age 26 Garou has achieved success as a singer and actor that some can only dream of, he remains modest. Already well known in France, instead of relocating, he recently bought a house in the district of Sherbrook, Quebec. If you haven't heard of him before, take this as fair warning -- Garou is going to be a huge name on the French music scene for a long time to come.
