Adam Gontier

Adam Gontier
Background information
Birth name	Adam Wade Gontier.
Born	(1978-05-25) May 25, 1978 (age 34) Norwood, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Alternative rock, post-grunge, alternative metal, punk rock[1]
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Jive, RCA Records
Associated acts	Three Days Grace, Art of Dying, Apocalyptica, Big Dirty Band, Groundswell
Website	www.threedaysgrace.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Guitars, PRS Guitars

Adam Wade Gontier (born on May 25, 1978) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter of the rock band Three Days Grace.^[2] He is regarded for his singing capabilities and is known to have a voice range from high tenor to medium low bass. In addition to his work with Three Days Grace, he has been involved in collaborations with other bands including Art of Dying and Apocalyptica.

Early life

Gontier was born in Norwood, Ontario in May 1978. He attended Norwood District High School. It was here that he met fellow band members Neil Sanderson and Brad Walst. They formed a band under the name 'Groundswell', which later evolved into Three Days Grace. Groundswell gained popularity in the local area, and a few years later the band decided to move to Toronto to pursue their music career.

Influences

Gontier cites his influences as Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Beatles and Jeff Buckley. When he was 8 to 12 years old, his mom, a jazz piano player, would take him to her concerts.

Three Days Grace

Gontier, Walst and Sanderson regrouped in 1997 under the name Three Days Grace. In 2003 the band recruited lead guitarist Barry Stock. Since signing to Jive Records, the band has released three albums, Three Days Grace, One-X and Life Starts Now.

Other works

Outside of Three Days Grace, Gontier has contributed to a number of other albums. He contributed vocals on I Don't Care on Apocalyptica's album, Worlds Collide in 2007. He was also featured on the track 'Raining' by fellow Canadian band Art of Dying on their album Vices And Virtues. In 2006 Gontier was a member of the rock supergroup Big Dirty Band along with Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Jeff Burrows, Ian Thornley and Care Failure.

In 2011, Gontier founded Sludge Factory Records and have signed one local band, Before the Curtain.

Awards

Gontier has won two BMI pop awards and has been nominated for best music video, best rock video and best international video by a Canadian. He and the rest of Three Days Grace have made the top five rock songs list for, "Break", "Riot", "Animal I Have Become", "I Hate Everything About You" and "Never Too Late".

Personal life

Adam has a god-daughter (named Roo) and a dog called Mabel. Gontier refers to Mabel as his 'first-born'. Some misinterpret this, and think that he is referring to a child. He married his high school sweetheart, Naomi Faith Brewer(born 1977), in May 2004. His cousin, Cale Gontier, is the bassist for the Canadian band Art of Dying.

In 2005, he went into rehabilitation for an addiction to OxyContin at the CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) in Toronto, where he wrote many of the songs for One-X, including "Pain", "Animal I Have Become", "Over and Over" and "Gone Forever".^[3][4] He is still sober, and a docu-drama about his addiction, Behind the Pain, was released in 2007.^[3][5]

Gontier has a large selection of tattoos. On his right forearm, he has a solid black band and lyrics to his bands' song "Never Too Late" from the album One-X, and on his left arm, he has a tattoo with special words made out to his grandmother. He also has 2 tattoos on his chest. He has a tattoo of the word "grace" on the knuckles of his right hand using the font from Jeff Buckley's Grace album. He also has "hope" tattooed on his left knuckles. In 2007, he had a tribal tattoo added to his upper right arm. He has a tattoo of a butterfly on his right wrist.

Discography

References

External links

• Adam Gontier on Myspace
• Official Three Days Grace website