Offenbach

The Canadian blues-rock band Offenbach formed in Montreal, Quebec, in 1969. Initially featuring vocalist Pierre Harel, guitarist Johnny Gravel, organist/vocalist Gerry Boulet, bassist Michel Lamothe, and drummer Denis Boulet, the group debuted in 1972 with Offenbach Soap Opéra. Despite featuring two songs in English, the album's lyrics were largely sung in French. Roger "Wezo" Belval replaced Denis Boulet as Offenbach's drummer later that year, with Pierre Harel leaving the group one year later. Despite the lineup changes, the band continued releasing material with 1973's St-Chrone de néant and 1975's live album, Tabarnac. Never Too Tender, the first of two English-language albums, arrived in 1976, followed by the French albums Offenbach (1977), Traversion (1979), and Offenbach En Fusion (1980). Both Traversion and Offenbach En Fusion won Félix Awards for "Rock Album of the Year," with Offenbach receiving two additional Félix Awards for "Group of the Year" and "Show of the Year" in 1980. That same year, the band released its second English album, Rock Bottom. Following 1986's Le Dernier Show, Offenbach took a decade-long hiatus before reuniting in 1996 and releasing the comeback album Nature in 2005. Featuring acoustic versions of the band's classic songs, Nature was eventually followed by a gold-certified live album, 2016's Bacon, and an album of new material, 2018's Renaissance.

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