Adam Wade Gontier is a Canadian musician and songwriter, formerly the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and main songwriter of the Canadian rock band Three Days Grace. 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 worked with some other bands including Art of Dying and Apocalyptica. Gontier left the group on January 9, 2013.
Background
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.
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.
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". He is still sober, and a docu-drama about his addiction, Behind the Pain, was released in 2007.
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.
Career
Outside of Three Days Grace, he has also written and collaborated with numerous writers, musicians and bands of all genres. Some of Gontier's collaborations include Daughtry, Ian Thornley, Max Martin, Shaun Morgan, Ben Burnley, Art of Dying, Before The Curtain, and fellow musician and long time friends Kevin Brown Grainne Ryan, Kim Brown, and more.
Gontier has also contributed to a number of other albums. He contributed vocals and musical arrangement 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. Adam's cousin Cale Gontier, is the bass player for Art of Dying, and so for both Adam and Cale, it was a special moment. As well, he was featured on two tracks on the newly signed Peterborough band, "Before The Curtain", debut album. A release date is still pending.
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., covering the classic "I Fought The Law", as part of the Trailer Park Boys movie soundtrack.
In 2011, Gontier created the record label, Sludge Factory Records, and has signed three acts. One of which is fellow Peterborough band, Before the Curtain.
On January 9, 2013, it was announced that Gontier had resigned from the band due to possible life threatening health concerns. A recent interview with "Noise Critic Megazine" quotes, "Gontier's health concerns have slowly dissipated, since his departure, and has now started to focus on a new project. The change was a catalyst for the his healing process."
Also in January of 2013 in an interview with Loudwire, Gontier stated he was working on a solo album, and looked forward to releasing it sometime in the near future. Jeremy Taggart of Our Lady Peace and Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin have both been working with Adam, on a specific track from his anticipated upcoming solo record.
In early March of 2013, Gontier publicly announced and launched his Adam Gontier Solo Live Tour. While Gontier is quite well recognized for his solo acoustic capabilities, he introduced his new band to the public with an intriguing teaser video, that circulated throughout Facebook quickly. The band is a talented mix three players behind Gontier. The group consists of long time childhood friend of Gontier's Thomas RC Gardner on bass guitar,(Before The Curtain, Colt Harley, Electrashine), Rich Beddoe from Finger Eleven on drums and percussion, and Gontier's uncle, and lifelong friend and mentor, Tom Duffy, on lead guitar.
Gontier and his band performed their first show together on April 19th, 2013 in Oklahoma City as part of the Ink Life Tour. The concert was well received. Gontier and the group will stay busy this year with numerous performances as part of the Ink Life Tour, as well as numerous festivals, including the Uncommon Ground music festival, Zombiefest, and Rockapalooza, where Gontier will co-headline with Candlebox, Taproot, and Saliva.
There is no known name for Gontier's new band at this time.
On May 12, 2013 Gontier released an official acoustic version and video of the song Give Me A Reason from "Transit of Venus", which, allegedly, will be his final vocal performance of his lengthy tenure with 3 Days Grace.