[1] Cormier was born in Les Escoumins, North Shore, Quebec, into a family of traveling musicians.
[4] As a young man, Cormier played violin on CBJ radio in Chicoutimi, and later in dance clubs and hotels in Montreal.
[2] He performed with musicians Willie Lamothe, Marcel Martel, Roger Miron, and Paul Brunelle,[4][5] and also as an opening solo act at concerts.
In the 1970s he toured in Europe and Africa with singer Gilbert Bécaud, taking on the stage name Monsieur Pointu,[6][7] and also hosted a television folk music series on Télé-Métropole.
[2] Cormier played the sound track for an animated film about his music, Monsieur Pointu, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1976.