Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian vocalist and songwriter, who is

best known as the lead singer of the American progressive metal band Dream Theater,
which he has fronted since 1991.

Contents

 1Early life
 2Career
o 2.1Coney Hatch
o 2.2Winter Rose
o 2.3Dream Theater
o 2.4Solo
o 2.5Other projects
 3Personal life
o 3.1Religious views
 4Singing
o 4.1Influences
o 4.2Reception
o 4.3Food poisoning incident
 5Discography
 6References
 7External links

Early life[edit]
Kevin James LaBrie was born in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada and started playing
drums at age 5. By his mid-teens, he was a member of several bands as a front man that
attempted singing and/or drumming. He stopped playing drums at age 17[1] and in 1981, at
age 18, he moved to Toronto.

Career[edit]
Coney Hatch[edit]
LaBrie joined Coney Hatch in 1986 when they were attempting a new lineup. The band
recorded a number of demonstration tapes in their rehearsal studio and performed live in
Ontario clubs for several months. When their record company (Anthem) expressed their
disapproval of the lineup, the band replaced LaBrie with Phil Naro in one last ditched
attempt at forging ahead without Carl Dixon. That lineup was to be short lived as well.

Winter Rose[edit]
Soon after parting ways with Coney Hatch, LaBrie became the vocalist for the glam
metal band Winter Rose.[2][3] The group also included Richard Chycki on guitar and bass,
Randy Cooke on drums, and Sebastian Bach on vocals.[4] Chycki had also worked with
Bach under the band names Sebastian and Hope. The band recorded a series of demos
through 1988 and 1989 with guest musicians Bruce Dies and Rob Laidlaw. The tracks were
commercially released in 1989 as a self-titled album by Inside Out Music. All the songs on
the album were written by Richard Chycki and James LaBrie, except two which Richard
Chycki wrote alone.

Dream Theater[edit]
In 1990, LaBrie learned that American progressive metal band Dream Theater was looking
for a new singer, so he submitted 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.[5]
LaBrie has since had a significant impact on the vocal melodies on each Dream Theater
album, but until recently has had little input on the instrumentation of Dream Theater's
music - 2011's A Dramatic Turn of Events features LaBrie in the music credits on three
songs. To date he has written or co-written lyrics for at least one song on eight of the
twelve albums Dream Theater has released with him in the band, Images and Words, Black
Clouds & Silver Linings, Dream Theater and The Astonishing containing none of them.
Asked by Prog-Sphere.com what is his favorite Dream Theater song to play live, James
says "The favorite song for me is Scarred, I love performing that live. And... well,
Octavarium, that whole freakin’ thing."[6]

Solo[edit]
With Matt Guillory, LaBrie has released five solo albums under various names
(Mullmuzzler, James LaBrie's Mullmuzzler, and simply James LaBrie).
In an interview from Beyond The Dark Horizon on June 12, 2010, James LaBrie stated that
his next solo album entitled Static Impulse, is in the mixing stages and will contain 12
tracks. James stated "It's very heavy and I'm really excited."[7]
On July 27, 2010 it was announced on Dream Theater's website that Static Impulse would
be released on September 27, 2010 through InsideOut Music. It features longtime
collaborator Matt Guillory on keyboards, Marco Sfogli ("Elements of Persuasion") on
guitars, Peter Wildoer from DARKANE on drums/screaming vocals, and Ray Riendeau on
bass.
James LaBrie stated "The release of Static Impulse is one that the whole band is psyched
about. This is modern metal and as heavy and relevant as any other band out there going
in a similar musical direction. There are riffs that will blow your head off and melodies both
musically and vocally that are hypnotic. Get in the driver's seat and let the ears bleed.
Enjoy and see you out there with a tour to follow up and support this release."[8]
In 2011's interview for Prog-Sphere.com, LaBrie stated that the US tour got cancelled,
saying "Because it was so disorganized last time. That's why I basically said, 'You don't
have the visas yet. Where we're at this point, by the time you get the visas processed,
we're gonna have one rehearsal and then we're gonna go out.' And I said, 'I'm not doing
that.'"[6]
In July 2013, LaBrie's album Impermanent Resonance was released.

Other projects[edit]
Throughout his career with Dream Theater, LaBrie has lent his voice to many other artists'
records as well as tribute albums. In 1991, not long after joining Dream Theater (and before
ever appearing on a Dream Theater recording), he sang background vocals on the song
"Life in Still Water" on Fates Warning's Parallels album.[9] 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 Shadow Gallery, Tim Donahue and Frameshift.
LaBrie provided the lead vocals for the main character in the rock opera album The Human
Equation by Ayreon; in 2015, he reprised his role for a live version, The Theater Equation.
He was also featured as the character "The Historian" in the album The Source.[10]
LaBrie is also a featured vocalist on Henning Pauly's "Babysteps" project released in 2006;
LaBrie plays the role of the arrogant doctor.
Since 2004, LaBrie has been working with the True Symphonic Rockestra project, along
with Thomas Dewald, Vladimir Grishko, Dirk Ulrich, Christoph Wansleben, Sandro
Martinez, Paul Mayland, Marvin Philippi, and Igor Marin. Their album, Concerto In True
Minor - 3 Rock Tenors was released on iTunes and for download on Amazon on March 28,
2008 by Brainworx and Marinsound.
In 2016 LaBrie was the special guest on the Last Union debut album firstly meant to be
named "Most Beautiful Day". He sang in three songs: "President Evil", "Taken" and "A
Place In Heaven". Eventually the album was called "Twelve" and finally released on
December 21, 2018. "Twelve" was written and pieced together over a two-and-a-half year
period.[11]