Metal Mania Community

In 1991 he learned that a relatively unknown American progressive metal band called Dream Theater was in the market for a singer, so he sent down a tape and was quickly flown to New York for a full audition. The trial went well, and he was chosen ahead of 200 other hopefuls to fill the full-time vocalist position in that band.

Having two Johns (Myung and Petrucci) in the band already, and with another Kevin in the band, LaBrie dropped his first name and adopted the stage name James LaBrie.

In 1993, he was considered to replace departed Iron Maiden vocalist, Bruce Dickinson.(Dream Theater went on to record Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" at the BBC radio studios with Bruce Dickinson, as well as perform an Iron Maiden medley live with Bruce in Los Angeles.) James has since had a significant impact on the vocal melodies on each Dream Theater album, but continues to have little input into the musical side of Dream Theater. To date he has written lyrics for at least one song on each album (excluding Images and Words) Dream Theater has released with him in the band.

On December 29, 1994, while vacationing in Cuba, LaBrie suffered a severe case of food poisoning and while vomiting, ruptured his vocal cords. He saw three throat specialists who all said there was nothing they could do for him and the only thing he could do was rest his voice as much as possible. However, on January 12, 1995, and against doctor's orders, he was on the "Awake" tour in Japan with his voice far from normal. James has said he didn't feel vocally "normal" until at least 1997.

His musical inspiration comes from many different genres, including such artists as Metallica, Ludwig van Beethoven, Nat King Cole, Queen and Sting, whose inspiration, according to LaBrie, is shown on Dream Theater's latest release, "Octavarium".

Throughout his career with Dream Theater, he has lent his voice to many other artists' records as well as tribute albums to some influential artists. He has appeared on many Trent Gardner releases (including Leonardo: The Absolute Man and Explorer's Club), as well as appearing on albums by such artists as Ayreon (The Human Equation, released 2004), Shadow Gallery, Tim Donohue and Frameshift.

With Matt Guillory and Mike Mangini, LaBrie has released three solo albums under various names (Mullmuzzler, James LaBrie's Mullmuzzler, and simply James LaBrie). His latest, Elements of Persuasion, was released in March, 2005. A fourth solo album is widely rumored to be in the works.

Since 2004, LaBrie has been working with the True Symphonic Rockestra project, along with Thomas Dewald, Vladimir Grishko, Dirk Ulrich, Christopher Jesidero, Sandro Martinez, Paul Mayland, Marvin Philippi, and Igor Marin. Their 2006 album, TSR, has been finished since early July, with Brainworx and Marinsound working on a release.

LaBrie is also a featured vocalist on Henning Pauly's "Babysteps" project released in 2006, LaBrie plays the role of the arrogant doctor.

Biodata :

Name
Kevin James LaBrie

Birthdate
May 5, 1963

"Home"
Toronto, Canada

Hair Color
Brown

Eye Color
Blue

Favorite Color
Blue

Equipment
Neuman KMS 105 Wireless Microphone

Books
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Vampire Chronicles, Look For Me On The Mountain, Indian Wars

TV Shows
The Simpsons, Star Trek - The Next Generation, Seinfeld, In Search Of...

Movies
Dead Poets Society, Scarface, The Dead Zone, Dances with Wolves

Actors

Robin Williams, Patrick Stewart, Al Pacino, Michael Douglas, Sean Connery

Actresses
Linda Hamilton, Meg Ryan, Emma Thompson

Sports
Hockey, Football, Basketball, Soccer

Food
Pasta dishes, seafood and all vegetables except zucchini

Drinks
Fruit and vegetable juices, beer, rum and diet coke