Arcade Fire
A 2005 photo of the Canadian band Arcade Fire. From left: Sarah Neufeld, Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Will Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Owen Pallett, Jeremy Gara, and Richard Reed Parry.
The eclectic and highly theatrical band from Canada blends musical influences as varied as hard rock, bossa nova, French chanson, rara and punk. In just a few short years, Arcade Fire has gone from a favorite of those-in-the-know (one critic called them a cross between a Clash concert and Cirque du Soleil), to a Grammy-winning international success.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
Perth, Australia
Win Butler of Arcade Fire sings among the crowd during the 2008 Big Day Out at the Claremont Showgrounds on February 3, 2008 in Perth, Australia.
Netherlands
Regine Chassagne and her husband, Win Butler (left, pictured in the Netherlands in 2005), are Arcade Fire's principal songwriters. They met at McGill University in Montreal in 2001.
"I had nothing going on, and she had lots of stuff going on," Win told CBS News' Anthony Mason.
She was playing in a medieval band in shopping malls: "I also sang jazz in a grocery store opening, which was pretty funny at 8 a.m.," Regine laughed.
Montreal
Regine Chassagne and Win Butler moved in together in the Mile End section of Montreal (which they toured with Anthony Mason). Their apartment, located over a bar, became their performance space and recording studio. (Regine recorded the vocals of the song, "Haiti," in their bathroom.)
Their first album, "Funeral," recorded for less than $10,000, has gone on to sell more than 700,000 copies.
Win Butler
Though most of the band's members are Canadian, Win Butler (left), grew up in Texas with his brother, William, also a member. Their grandmother was a member of the singing King Family; their grandfather was the big bandleader Alvino Rey.
Regine Chassagne
Regine Chassagne, the daughter of Haitian immigrants who fled "Papa Doc" Duvalier's death squads in the '60s, was a musical prodigy: "I didn't have a lot of access to music," she told Anthony Mason, "so when I heard something, I would just kind of listen to it like it was going to go away. Because it was, and I was never going to hear it again. So I just learned to remember everything."
Mason asked, "Are you hearing music in your head all the time?"
"Kind of," she replied. "Maybe it's not normal. But I hear so much music in my head, sometimes so clearly, that it might as well be real."
William Butler
William Butler of Arcade Fire performs live for fans during the 2014 Big Day Out Festival at Western Springs on January 17, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Richard Parry
Musician Richard Parry of Arcade Fire performs in the crowd during Day 3 of the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 20, 2014 in Indio, California.
Parry told Anthony Mason he met Win Butler from an ad seeking a roommate posted on a telephone pole: "And he was like, 'I have this great place. We can make a lotta noise, it's a weird loft.' And I was like, 'Weird loft? Lotta noise?'"
Sarah Neufeld
Sarah Neufeld, of the group Arcade Fire, performs during the first of four sold-out nights at Brixton Academy in support of the album "Neon Bible," on March 14, 2007 in London, England.
Tim Kingsbury
Tim Kingsbury of Arcade Fire performing during the 2014 Big Day Out Festival at Western Springs on January 17, 2014 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Jeremy Gara
Drummer Jeremy Gara of Arcade Fire performs during the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Day 5 presented by Shell at The Fair Grounds Race Course on May 6, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Cover Art
The band's four studio albums to date are "Funeral" (2004), which ranked #6 on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Best Albums of the 2000s; "Neon Bible" (2007), which was their first chart-topping record in Canada; "The Suburbs" (2010), which hit #1 in the U.S. and won the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year; and "Reflektor" (2013), which also went to # 1.
Quebec
A group portrait of Arcade Fire, at Cine Park in Laval, Quebec, Canada, June 12, 2010.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Guitarist Win Butler of Arcade Fire performs during the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Day 5 presented by Shell at The Fair Grounds Race Course on May 6, 2011 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Fashion Rocks Show
David Bowie performs with Arcade Fire at Conde Nast's 2005 Fashion Rocks Show.
Haiti
When Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in 2010, the band rushed out on tour to raise about $1 million for the relief effort.
"And had a Super Bowl ad, too," said Win Butler. "'Cause we were like, 'Okay, what's in our in-box that we would have said 'no' to?' And we were like, 'All right, what does it pay? Yes, tell them to double it."
"So you did that Super Bowl ad entirely to raise money for Haiti?" Anthony Mason said.
"Entirely, yeah."
Grammy Awards
Musicians Richard Reed Parry, Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, William Butler, Jeremy Gara, Tim Kingsbury and Sarah Neufeld of the band Arcade Fire , winners of the Album of the Year Award, pose in the press room at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center on February 13, 2011 in Los Angeles.
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
Fans attend the Arcade Fire performance during Day 2 of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival 2011 held at the Empire Polo Club on April 16, 2011 in Indio, Calif.
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Recording Artist Cyndi Lauper joins Grammy Award-winners Arcade Fire during the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, at The Fair Grounds Race Course on May 6, 2011 in New Orleans, La.
"SNL"
Mick Jagger performs with Arcade Fire on "Saturday Night Live," May 19, 2012.
Reflektor Tour
Win Butler of Arcade Fire performs during The Reflektor Tour at The Forum on August 2, 2014 in Inglewood, California.
Reflektor Man
"Reflektor Man" is seen in the audience during the Arcade Fire performance on Day 3 of the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 13, 2014 in Indio, California.
Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival
Regine Chassagne of Arcade Fire performs onstage during Day 3 of the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 13, 2014 in Indio, California.
Glastonbury Festival
A member of the Canadian band Arcade Fire plays keyboards as the group headlines the Pyramid Stage on the first official day of the Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm in Somerset, England, on June 27, 2014.
For more info:
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