Paul Lorieau

Who was Paul Lorieau?

Paul Joseph Lorieau was a Canadian optician who was the National Anthem singer for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League from 1981 to 2011. He was of French-Canadian descent.

Paul Joseph Lorieau was born the youngest of 7 children on June 29, 1942 in Legal, Alberta to Henri and Alexandrine Lorieau. Both of his parents had musical backgrounds, his mother playing the violin, and his father a "natural tenor". Around 1981 Lorieau had sent in an audition tape in a search for a new anthem singer in Edmonton at the request of Oilers media relations director Bill Tuele. Although the anthem singer at the time had already been selected, the tape from Lorieau, which had been sent in late as he had been in New York City at the time, had been considered and he ultimately ended up being given the job.

In response to the Canadian National Anthem being booed at the beginning of Game 2 of the 2006 NHL Western Conference Finals in Anaheim, when playing the next game in Edmonton, the Canadian crowd responded in their own fashion.