Win Butler, Regine Chassagne, Richard Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and William Butler formed the Arcade Fire in summer 2003. The experimental indie rock quintet, who hail from Montreal, initially began when the elder Butler spotted Chassagne singing jazz standards at a local art exhibit at Concordia University in their hometown. From there, two became inseparable, both professionally and personally.
In 2003 the band signed with Merge Records and prepped for their first studio album after releasing an EP. During its recording, the Arcade Fire dealt with several tragedies, with a grandfather, a grandmother, and an aunt each passing away within a few months of each other. It was not all heartache for the band, though, as Win and Regine married in early 2004.
The highly-anticipated debut album Funeral arrived in September 2004 to high acclaim.