Robert Laforest (born September 5, 1942), known professionally as Michel Caron, is a French Canadian musician-keyboardist-singer. In his teenage years, he had singing classes with Lucille Dumont and later voice pitch classes with Eliane Catella.
He record his first disk, with the help of Pierre Nolès, under the label Carol containing the songs âÂÂDis-moiâ and âÂÂJe t'ai ditâ in 1960. Unfortunately, Fleur de Lys company, the owner of Carol, went bankrupt.
At 17 years old, Michel meets Georges Tremblay and together they record a second disk with the record label company London. The disk contains âÂÂTu ris de mes peinesâ and âÂÂDanyâÂÂ. The third disk, also with London, contains âÂÂAuprès de toiâ and âÂÂUne larme sur ta joueâÂÂ.
In 1963, he makes the acquaintance of Michèle Richard and she introduced him to Russell Marois, the owner of Météor, a record label company based in Sherbrooke. He is put under contract with Météor to record 5 disks. Many of the recordings ( âÂÂSi jâÂÂavais un marteauâÂÂ, âÂÂUne larmeâÂÂ, âÂÂUn jourâÂÂ, âÂÂAprès ton départâ and âÂÂMa VénusâÂÂ) make it on the Quebecker songs chart.
In 1966, after the end of his contract with Météor, he signs another contract with Beaumont, a record label company. His first instrumental disk under Beaumont contains the hits âÂÂHava nagila àgo goâ and âÂÂMinuitâÂÂ. On this disk, Michel plays the organ. Later with his older sister, Claudette Henry, who is a singer-songwriter, he records a second disk containing âÂÂNe t'en va pasâ and âÂÂLa chance me souritâÂÂ.
Michel takes part in many television shows at CHLT, a Sherbrooke TV station and also at Jeunesse dâÂÂaujourdâÂÂhui, a popular live music tv show with the hits of the week. He also performs in many performance halls and piano bars in the province of Quebec.