website associated_acts years_active label image_size article_title name background birth_date genre image origin birth_name occupation
-lsb- http://www.brandonparis.com www.brandoparis.com -rsb- brandon paris band 1999 -- present formerly koch entertainment , nevada records , currently independent 250 brandon paris
 brandon paris solo_singer 11 november 1971 rock , pop brandon headshot.jpg winnipeg , manitoba , canada richard lee singer , bartender , web designer ,
brandon paris

brandon paris -lrb- born richard lee , legally changed his name in 1998 -rrb- was born on november 11 , 1971 in winnipeg , manitoba , canada and is the lead singer and front man for brandon paris band .
after graduating high school in 1989 , he went to red river college to study criminology in hopes of joining the winnipeg police service , but that same year dropped out .
at the age of 18 , brandon started making t-shirts under a brand name he called `` express clothing '' .
he started selling t-shirts out of the trunk of his car ; eventually , his clothing line was carried at two of the largest clothing chains in canada -lrb- at the time -rrb- , bootlegger , and below the belt .
the company dissolved after three years because of poor business decisions based on little experience .
a three-year relationship ended with his girlfriend during the same week of the official dissolve of his business , which led to brandon 's attempted suicide in 1993 .
brandon was admitted in st. boniface hospital where he had his stomach pumped .
one month later , his father talked him into moving to surrey , bc to work for his multimedia company .
paris worked for 7 years as a digital video editing/3d animator helping build his fathers home based business into one of the most recognized video production/duplication companies in british columbia .
by 1998 , brandon became addicted to drugs which led him into a deep depression .
this depression helped him find a new love for music , that he claims , helped him find his way out of his two-year drug addiction .
in 1999 paris left his fathers business to pursue a career in music .
he sold all of his belongings within two weeks , and moved to long beach , california with $ 7,000 cash in hopes of putting together a band .
while eating only oatmeal everyday and living in cockroach infested apartments , brandon immediately took vocal lessons and went to the library each day educating himself with books on song writing and the music business .
after running out of money within 1 year , brandon became desperate for money , and attained an illegal green card and visa papers .
only 2 weeks later he was soon caught and deported back to canada .
brandon started writing and performing his own songs as a solo artist locally from 2001 to 2002 .
he independently financed the recording of his solo album which took two years to complete but released songs to radio with no success .
with what took over three years , brandon paris 's newly formed band was completed .
brandon re-recorded half the album with troy samson of hipjoint productions -lrb- moka only , kreesha turner , snoop dogg -rrb- and jeff dawson -lrb- state of shock , kelly rowland , daniel powter , marcy playground -rrb- , paris officially changed the name from `` brandon paris '' to `` brandon paris band '' in 2006 and decided they were finally ready to shop their debut album now titled `` on my own '' .
in january 2006 , brandon paris band signed a deal with koch entertainment literally overnight just days after sending out their album to record labels across canada , with many offers following .
their debut albums ' first single , `` rewind and start again '' , was a huge success on commercial radio after being released on march 13 , 2006 .
the song climbed up to top 20 on the canadian chr charts -lrb- tracked by radio & records -lrb- billboard information group -rrb- -rrb- .
the second and third singles , `` somebody to hold '' and `` give me a reason '' , were also well received in many cities but not enough to reach top 40 status in canada .
topping off an already exceptional year , brandon paris band was nominated for best new group or solo artist -lrb- chr -rrb- by the canadian radio music awards in spring of 2007 .
