James LaBrie is the extremely talented vocalist for the band Dream Theater. Born May 5th, 1963 as Kevin James LaBrie, he was raised in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada. He took up the drums at age 5, but later gave that up in order to pursue singing more fully. At age 21, he began vocal training with the renowned vocal coach Rosemary Patricia Burns, who remained his coach for many years.
He has also pursued several other projects, including
the Canadian glam rock band Winter Rose, which was popular all around Toronto in the late 1980s. After Dream Theater fired thier former vocalist, Charlie Dominici (who performed on DT's first album "When Dream and Day Unite" - 1989) they hired LaBrie, using his middle name as a stage name to
differentiate between
Kevin Moore who was the
keyboardist in the band when he joined.
James has also appeared on releases by Fates Warning and Shadow Gallery, Trent Gardner's Explorer's Club and Leonardo the Absolute Man, as well as tribute albums to Rush, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Queen. In 1999, James completed and released the first MullMuzzler album, "Keep it to Yourself" to much critical acclaim. "The followup, James LaBrie's MullMuzzler 2", was released in 2001. James also contributed his vocal talents as a major character on Ayreon's 2004 rock opera, "The Human Equation." His newest record "Elements of Persuasion" was released in 2005.
