Michel Gérard Joseph Colucci, better known under his stage name Coluche, was a French stage comedian and cinema actor. He adopted Coluche as a stage name at age 26, when he began his entertainment career. He became known for his irreverent attitude towards politics and the establishment, and he incorporated this into much of his material. He was one of the first major comedians to regularly use profanities as a source of humor on French television. He also founded the charity "Les Restaurants du Coeur" which still provides free meals and other products to people in need.
Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan, known as Renaud, is a popular French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in France, including the sea tale "Dès que le vent soufflera", the irreverent "Laisse béton", the ballad "Morgane de toi" and the nostalgic "Mistral gagnant". However, with the exception of a recording of "Miss Maggie" in English and a franglais recording of "It is not because you are", his work is little known outside the French-speaking world.
Jean-Jacques Goldman is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French pop rock act. Born in Paris and active in the music scene since 1975, he had a highly successful solo career in the 1980s, and was part of the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones, releasing another string of hits in the 1990s.
Michel Polnareff is a French singer-songwriter, who was popular in France from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s with his penultimate original album, Kāma-Sūtra. He is still critically acclaimed and occasionally tours in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Nouvelle Vague is a French cover band led by musicians Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin. Their name means "new wave" in French, and refers simultaneously to the French New Wave cinema movement of the 1960s, to the new wave music movement of the 1970s and 1980s, which provides many of the songs that the band covers, and to bossa nova, a musical style that the band frequently uses in its arrangements.
Camille Dalmais, better known by her mononym Camille, is a French singer, songwriter and occasional actress.
Mistral gagnant is a studio album from French artist Renaud on the Virgin France label, now part of EMI, released in 1985.
Marchand de cailloux is a studio album from French artist Renaud. It was released in 1991 and seen as a return to form after the less positive reviews for the previous album, Putain de camion.
The Prix Constantin is an annual French music prize awarded to the best album of an artist who has come to prominence during the course of the past year. It was inaugurated in 2002, following the example of the Mercury Music Prize, as an attempt to bring to light artists who have not had major media coverage. It is therefore open to individuals or groups who have not yet had a gold album, with the exception of the nominated album. Its basic purpose is to help newer artists who are not very popular to gain publicity. All albums produced in France in the past year are admissible, without restriction on the nationality or language of expression of the artist. The winner is decided by a jury, headed by a musician, which contains representatives from the press, radio, television and record stores.
Aqme is a French rock band originating from Paris, France, consisting of four members. The band was part of a French nu metal movement called "Team Nowhere", but they eventually split up with the Team in order to have more independence.
Rouge Sang is a studio album by French singer Renaud released in 2006. It gained particular media attention for the song Elle est facho which portrays a female Front National voter. The song brought about a controversy because of its last verse à la facho... qui vote Sarko ; Sarko being a nickname for the then minister and candidate for presidential election Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy's party, UMP considered the song an unreasonable attack on the run up to the elections, but Sarkozy still won while Rouge Sang went platinum on the day of its release. The album spent nine weeks in the French top ten including two weeks at number 1 and it has gone on to sell over half a million copies.
Live is the fourth album by Vanessa Paradis and her first live album. It was also her last album until Bliss. The album was recorded on her Natural High Tour, on April 21, 1993 and is unique for featuring a large number of English songs when compared to her other live albums and tours.
Variations sur le même t'aime is the second album by popular French singer Vanessa Paradis. It was released in France in 1990, and contains the hit singles "Tandem" and "Dis-lui toi que je t'aime".
Au Zénith is the second live album by singer Vanessa Paradis. Steve Nieve of Elvis Costello's The Attractions is featured on the keyboard. The album was recorded during her performances at Le Zénith during her Bliss Tour.
Benoît Dorémus is a French singer-songwriter. He is the fourth of five children and grew up in France.
"Éthiopie" is a charity song recorded in 1985 by the collective band known under the name 'Chanteurs sans Frontières'. The song achieved a huge success in France, topping the chart for two months and becoming one of the best-selling singles in that country.
Solitude à deux is an album by the French singer Johnny Hallyday.
Le Retour de Gérard Lambert is the fifth studio album by French singer-songwriter Renaud. It was released in 1981 by Polydor Records. In Renaud's overall discography the album was released between two live albums, Un Olympia pour moi tout seul (1982) and Le P'tit Bal du samedi soir et autres chansons réalistes (1981).
Ses plus belles histoires is a compilation album of francophone Canadian pop singer Isabelle Boulay. It includes three covers and one new song, and was released in September 2002.
"Mistral gagnant is the title song from French singer Renaud's 1985 album Mistral gagnant. In the song, Renaud sings to his young daughter Lolita Séchan about his own childhood and realizes that time flies as will fly away the laughs of his daughter as a child.
