Jean Beauvoir
Jean Beauvoir |
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Jean Beauvoir is an American singer bassist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist.
Beauvoir was born in Chicago to parents of Haitian background. He played drums as a child and switched to bass as a teenager. He was Gary U.S. Bonds's musical director at age 13; following this he sang in the doo wop group The Flamingos.[1] He moved to New York City during the punk rock explosion and answered a newspaper ad for a bassist, which led to his joining The Plasmatics for two albums. While with the Plasmatics and subsequently, Beauvoir sported a conspicuous blond mohawk.
He left the group after their release Beyond the Valley of 1984 to join Steve Van Zandt's Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul for two albums. Following this he launched a solo career with the album Drums Along the Mohawk, released in the U.K. on Virgin Records in 1986. The track "Feel the Heat" was chosen by Sylvester Stallone for his Cobra,[1] and the song became a hit in the U.S., reaching #73 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2] On the strength of the single, Drums Along the Mohawk was released in the U.S. and peaked at #93 on the Billboard 200.[3] Jean Beauvoir's success was much greater in the rest of the world; the single "Feel The Heat" charted top 10 across Europe and in Australia.
Beauvoir released several further solo albums since the late 1980s, mostly released in Europe. Since then he has also written, produced for, and performed with acts such as Kiss, John Waite, The Ramones, Nona Hendryx, The Pretenders, Deborah Harry, Lionel Richie, and N'SYNC. He has appeared on over 100 albums over the past two decades. He has also fronted the bands Voodoo X and Crown of Thorns, which was originally signed to Interscope Records for a much publicized record breaking deal. Both these hard rock groups have achieved significant success in the rest of the world.
Beauvoir founded and served as CEO/President of Voodoo Island Entertainment Group whose divisions included Voodoo Island records and Voodoo Island Productions. Over the course of his professional career, he has created joint venture partnerships with industry veterans such as Richard Branson, Al Teller, Ted Fields, Jimmy Iovine, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, and Lou Pearlman. Beauvoir is also the founder and CEO/President of Hot Boy Music and Tigre Noire Music. Beauvoir’s worldwide music catalogue contains over 250 published titles. Beauvoir currently serves as CEO/Managing Director of Renegade Nation - a company founded by chairman Little Steven Van Zandt and continues to produce, write and lead his group Crown of Thorns. Crown of Thorns re-released their 2008 CD "Faith" on June 9th, 2009 with three bonus tracks via the Lost Cathedral label, part of the Renegade Nation/Little Steven's Underground Garage family of ventures.
In addition to his film music work with Sylvester Stallone, he has also composed title music for the films Pet Semetary, Shocker, Flawless, School of Rock, Christmas with the Kranks, The Guilty, RV, Rock and Roll High School Forever, and Berlin Nights.
Discography
Solo
- Drums Along the Mohawk (Virgin Records, 1986)
- Jacknifed (Columbia Records, 1988)
- Rockin' in the Street (Virgin Records, 1996)
- Bare to the Bones (Point Records, 2001)
- Chameleon (Edel Records, 2004)
Crown of Thorns
- Crown of Thorns (1993)
- 21 Thorns (re-release of first album + bonus disc of live tracks) (1995)
- Breakthrough (1996)
- Lost Cathedral (1998)
- Destiny Unknown (2000)
- Karma (2002)
- Raw Thorns (demos from 1994) (2002)
- Crown Jewels (greatest hits) (2004)
- Faith (2008)
Voodoo X
- Vol. 1 The Awakening (1989)
References
- ^ a b Jean Beauvoir at Allmusic
- ^ Billboard Singles, Allmusic.com
- ^ Billboard, Allmusic.com