Régine Chassagne

Régine Alexandra Chassagne
Régine Chassagne on stage, July 2007
Background information
Birth name	Régine Alexandra Chassagne
Born	19 August 1976 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Indie rock, art rock, baroque pop
Instruments	Vocals, accordion, drums, piano, xylophone, hurdy-gurdy, recorders, keyboards
Years active	2000–present
Associated acts	Arcade Fire

Régine Chassagne (French pronunciation: ​[ʁeˈʒin ʃaˈsaːɲ]; born 19 August 1976)^[1] is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist musician, singer and songwriter, and is a founding member of the band Arcade Fire. She is married to co-founder Win Butler.

Life and career

Régine Alexandra Chassagne was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and grew up in St-Lambert, a suburb south of Montreal.^[2][3] Her parents, who were of Haitian origin, emigrated from Haiti during the dictatorship of François Duvalier, which is alluded to in the Arcade Fire song "Haiti", in which she sings, Mes cousins jamais nés hantent les nuits de Duvalier ("My unborn cousins haunt Duvalier's nights").^[4] The line is in reference to the relatives who were killed during the Jérémie Vespers massacre.

Chassagne attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf before earning a B.A. in communication studies at Concordia University^[5] in 1998,^[6] and went on to study jazz voice briefly at McGill University.^[7] She was singing jazz at an art opening at Concordia in 2000 when Win Butler met her and persuaded her to join his band. They married in 2003 and had their first child, a son, on 21 April 2013.^[8][9]

Chassagne has also been involved with a medieval band called Les Jongleurs de la Mandragore,^[10] and a jazz band, Azúcar. She also wrote the music for the two-minute David Uloth sketch "The Shine",^[11] and contributed to the UNICEF benefit project as part of the North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative, performing the song "Do They Know It's Hallowe'en?" along with Win Butler.

She plays many instruments on stage, including accordion, drums, xylophone, hurdy-gurdy, keyboards and organ. In Arcade Fire, Chassagne performs lead vocals on some songs, including "Haiti", "In the Backseat", "Empty Room", and "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)".

In March 2015, Chassagne, along with husband and Arcade Fire band mate Win Butler, attended the launch of music streaming service Tidal, and revealed themselves, along with other notable artists, as shareholders in the company.^[12]

References

1. Hoard, Christian (10 March 2005). "The Fire This Time". Rolling Stone (969). pp. 59–60. Posted in an abridged form at "The Fire This Time". rollingstone.com. 24 February 2005. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
2. Carpenter, Lorraine. (16 September 2004). "Hot property." Montreal Mirror. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
3. "Arcade Fire talk about their music." (6 March 2007). Radio Telefís Éireann. Retrieved 16 March 2007.
4. Hanley Bemis, Alec. (1 December 2004). " Weddings & Funerals." LA Weekly. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
5. "Régine Chassagne". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
6. McDonagh, Patrick. (Fall 2006). "Musical Joy." Concordia University Magazine. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
7. "The Arcade Fire is red hot." (Winter 2004). McGill News. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
8. Michaels, Sean (29 April 2013). "Arcade Fire's Win Butler and Régine Chassagne become parents". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
9. "gave birth" "Arcade Fire's Win Butler, Regine Chassagne Welcome Baby Boy". Rolling Stone. April 26, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
10. "Les Jongleurs de la Mandragore." (n.d.). Retrieved 19 October 2007.
11. "The Shine (2002)." (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
12. "Six awkward moments at Jay Z's Tidal relaunch". BBC. March 31, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2015.

External links

• Inter Press Service on the Arcade Fire and Régine Chassagne's Advocacy for Haiti