Quentin Elias
Quentin Elias (10 May 1974 – 25 February 2014) was a French singer, actor and model. Of Algerian heritage, he was the original lead singer of the French boy band Alliage with Steven Gunnell, Roman Lata Ares and Brian Torres from 1996 to 2000. After his departure from the group, he relocated to the United States where he developed a solo singing career singing in English and French, releasing a number of albums, EPs and singles through his company Quentin Elias Music and distribution by Electro Boy Inc Records. He also worked as a model, acted in a number  of feature films, television series and on stage and was featured in a number of advertisements. He took part in documentaries notably "The Adonis Factor" appearing on the documentary's promotional cover. He was active in body training, tattooing, in photography and in active blogging of his progress, all the while releasing more materials online. He was briefly involved in solo adult appearances on the Randy Blue gay male site under the pseudonym Q. He made a comeback in France starting in 2011, appearing in a number of tours, made new releases for the French and European markets, including remakes  of earlier Alliage hits and had a number of appearances on popular French reality television shows and on talk and entertainment shows talking candidly about his past. On 25 February 2014, Elias died at his home in New York City. Early life. Quentin Akacha Elias was born in the small commune of Mende, Lozère, France (although some sources dispute this and cite Marseilles as his place of birth) to Algerian immigrants. He was born to Algerian (father) and Malika Zeggour (mother) and had one sister Nina. After attending some of his sister's dance classes, Elias became interested in performing  and was enrolled in classes where he studied tap, ballet and modern jazz. He also participated and competed in kick-boxing. After his father died in a car accident when Quentin was just 18, Elias left home and relocated to Paris, where he worked odd jobs while auditioning for singing and or dancing gigs. Career. Musical career. Alliage (1996-1999). In 1996, Elias auditioned and was selected as a member of Alliage and became its lead singer. Alliage was composed of Quentin, Steven Gunnell, Roman Lata Ares and Brian Torres and they recorded two albums, "Alliage, l'album" in 1997 and  Musics in 1998. The group had many singles in France including six singles that charted in the Top 5. The band's most famous singles included "Baïla" in 1996, "Lucy", "Le temps qui court" and "Te garder près de moi" (in collaboration with Boyzone) in 1997 and "Je sais" in 1998. Alliage also toured internationally, having additional success in other countries. However, later releases were lacklustre and Quentin left Alliage in 1999 to pursue a separate solo career. The band split up soon after in 2000, ending a four-year run. Solo career (1999-2014). Starting from 1999, after having  left Alliage, Elias pursued a solo musical career. He tried collaborating with the French producers, the Nacash brothers. Greatly disappointed, he later on worked with Belgian producer Christian Moeyaert. In 2001, he won the European Diamond Award for "Best Male Promising Act" held on 17 November 2001 in Sportpaleis, Antwerp in Belgium. He later relocated to New York City and began working with music producers such as Ernie Lake and Junior Vasquez. Shortly after the 9-11 attacks Elias was introduced to producer Nile Rodgers by publicist Catherine P. Saxton who invited Elias to perform with several celebrities on a  charitable single cover of Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" with Rodgers and Spike Lee. He relocated to New York in 2002 and released the single "Always the Last to Say Goodbye", produced by Christian Moeyaert. He also performed at local gay venues and events such as Splash Bar, and Tom of Finland events. Besides performing some original songs, Elias has recorded some covers, like Madonna's song "Holiday", and "Shattered Dreams" by British pop group Johnny Hates Jazz. Continuing to perform and record, Elias released a maxi single "Serve It Up" in 2005 and a solo album “What If  I?” In September 2005, he started his own corporation "Quentin Elias Music, Inc.". After a return to French audiences after years of residing the States, he engaged in a comeback tour in 2011 and 2012, that included dates various European francophone venues under the title "Quentin Elias (Re Invented)" promoting his new release and remakes of old hits. A year later he returned with the Justify 2013 Tour. Acting career. Elias appeared in two episodes of the television series "Sex Chronicles." He was also one of the featured subjects in the 2010 documentary '"The Adonis Factor" alongside models Clint Catalyst , Anderson Davis, Dakota Rivers, Christopher Saint and writer/actor Bruce Vilanch. He made his theater debut starring in the role of Joe Kirwood in a production of ""The Boulevard"", a theater adaptation of the film "Sunset Blvd". The play had a limited run at a West Hollywood theater during the spring of 2010. In 2010, he played roles of a vampire in the film "The Brides of Sodom", followed by small roles in the 2013 low-budget film comedy "College Debts". and in "He Who Finds a Wife 2: Thou Shall Not Covet". He took on small roles as the  cell mate of Bernie Madoff in the 2011 low-budget film "Madoff: Made Off with America" and in the 2012 thriller "Azienda". Television. In September 2007, Elias appeared in an episode of MTV's, "My Super Sweet 16" hired to perform at a Sweet Sixteen birthday event. He also made a special appearance on an episode of the television series "The Things We Do for Love". French television stations made a number of reports on his progress including the program "Incroyables destins" under the title "Boy bands: L'argent, la gloire, puis la chute" in 2008, the station TF1 in the  series "Je realise mon rêve" in 2009 and NRJ 12 in the series "Tellement Vrai" also in 2009 In 2012, he returned to French television through a reality television show "L'Île des vérités" (meaning the island of truths) in its second season on television station NRJ 12 as a guest musician/model, alongside musician Willy Denzey and television presenter Marlène Mourreau. The candidates Aurélie, Geoffrey, Cindy, Dimitri, Pietro, Samir, Florent, Ines, Léa, Priscilla and Anita are in Tahiti and have the task of organizing a fund raising concert in aid of needy children of the island. Elias and Willy Densey  had to perform in the concert. But Elias unexpectedly left the show after clashing with the organizers. Then he had a change of heart and returned in a later episode to take part in the charity event. His last appearance was on the television reality show "Giuseppe Ristorante" broadcast on the French station NRJ 12 with the inaugural episode aired on 18 February 2014. Modeling. Elias modeled for several fashion designers including; Giorgio Armani, Jean Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler and Levi's. Elias also served as a model for Nikos, a manufacturer of gay leather gear based in New York  City. He also worked as a model with a number of New York and California-based photographers, notably Carlos Arias, Ulrich Oehmen, Luis Raphael, Mike Ruiz, Michael Stokes, Scott Hoover and others. In 2008 he released his first calendar. Adult video performances. In 2008, Elias (using the pseudonym of "Q") appeared on the pornography site "Randy Blue," performing in a solo video directed by Jeremy Lucido. Elias stated, "I have done so much in my career, this adult video is one more thing I have done in my career, it came to me at a point in my life when  I felt very sexual and felt the need to express myself through sex." But in several interviews later on, he refused to call his appearance on Randy Blue "pornographic", admitting though that he got remunerated handsomely for his appearance. He declared to "Voici" magazine: "Randy Blue came and asked me to make a solo video. I'm damn good, they paid me a lot of money for 10 minutes in a video. So I said: 'Why not, I'd be stupid to refuse'!" In a following television interview, he blamed the French media for concentrating on this specific adult appearance  while disregarding or selectively ignoring or downplaying most of his work in music, film, theatre and modelling in the States. Personal life. In order to maintain his physique, Elias exercised regularly, repeatedly declaring he avoided drugs, and denying rumors that he used steroids. He indulged in having a great number of tattoos including his Arabic name Akacha on his arm and the star and crescent to indicate his Algerian origin. He also appeared in a great number of photoshots and video footage and actively kept an online blog and posted a huge amount of footage online about the progress of  his career. He also dispelled many rumors that he had cosmetically enhanced his lips, stating that they are natural. Candidly addressing sexuality issues, when asked in an exclusive interview with "Les inRocKs" about possible homosexuality of members of various boybands of the time, and was this a taboo subject not to discuss at the height of their success he answered: "I don't know, I am not gay, none of the other Alliage members were gay. Now, I don't know about the sexuality in other bands". Death. Elias died on February 25, 2014 in his home on Staten Island , New York. The following day, miscellaneous posts on social media networks started circulating news about his death from massive heart failure due to excessive steroid use or human growth hormone. As speculation and confusion grew about the news, and in a bid to put a halt to ever-increasing and at times conflicting news and speculations once and for all, Quentin Elias management had to put a notice his Facebook page later on February 26, that said: "Tomorrow a statement will be made on the announcement of the passing of Quentin Elias. This is a very sad time for his  family and fans around the world. Please be patient for the official press release as it will be posted here tomorrow. – MGMT" After the management's release, most French and US media outlets confirmed it in their later news dispatches on February 26 and 27. The family put a note on his Facebook page on February 27, 2014 saying "Quentin Elias passed away at his home in New York on February 25th, 2014. The family would like to thank everyone for supporting Quentin's career as he truly loved to perform for his loving fans." The funeral services were held  in New York City on March 4, 2014. His body was subsequently sent to France where he was buried in Marseille, France. In addition, a permanent memorial page was established to keep his memory. Elias was survived by his mother, Malika Zeggour and sister Nina Boileaux.