Charlélie Couture (born Bertrand Charles Elie Couture, 26 February 1956) is a French and American musician and multi-disciplinary artist, who has recorded over 25 albums and 17 film soundtracks, and has held a number of exhibitions of paintings and photographs. He has also worked as a poster designer, and has published about 15 books of reflections, drawings and photographs.
Gérald Gardrinier (French pronunciation: [ʒeʁald ɡaʁdʁinje]; born 14 October 1967 in Saint-Denis, Réunion), better known by his stage name Gérald de Palmas, is a French singer-songwriter.
Bruno Nicolini (born 16 June 1969), better known by his stage name Bénabar, is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens, Renaud, Jacques Higelin and also Tom Waits. His songs describe day-to-day life events with humour and a tender cynicism. His songs are influenced by French chanson and a heavy influence is placed on the piano or the accordion and on typical French fanfare (brass band) for the most upbeat of them. This genre of music is very typically French and differs from most in that emphasis is placed on appreciation of the lyrics and that it is linked to a specific culture of modern "guinche" (slang for "guinguette") appreciated a lot by Bobos among others.
Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (French pronunciation: [ʁəno pjɛʁ manɥɛl seʃɑ̃]; born 11 May 1952 in Paris), known as Renaud, is a French singer-songwriter.
With twenty-six albums to his credit, selling nearly twenty million copies, he is one of France's most popular singers. 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". His songs, with their slang lyrics and idiosyncratic Parisian phrasing, deal with both light and serious themes, alternating humor, emotion, and social criticism.
Although he enjoyed great success in France in the 70s, 80s and 90s, his career took a roller-coaster ride thereafter, with the singer regularly falling victim to depression and alcoholism, ailments he recounts in various songs. His work remains little known outside the French-speaking world.
He also appeared in several films, including Claude Berri's adaptation of Germinal in 1993.
Although his political stance has provoked controversy, he has nicknamed himself "le chanteur énervant" (the irritating singer), due to his many commitments to causes such as human rights, ecology, and anti-militarism, which are frequently reflected in his songs.
Rémy Bricka (born April 10, 1949 in Niederbronn-les-Bains, Bas-Rhin) is a French musician, one-man band, and singer. He became the first person to walk across the Atlantic Ocean, in 1988, using floating skis to walk on water.His most successful album is La Vie en couleur, and in 1977 that song of his became a number five hit in France. The single Elle dit bleu elle dit rose sold 250,000 copies.
Along with the French versions, he released German versions of Petite fille du roi (Lakritz und Pfefferminz) and Chanter la vie (Freunde zu haben). In May 2008, Bricka appeared with Julien Doré in his single Les limites.
Axel Bauer (born 7 April 1961) is a French singer, composer, guitarist, and actor, born in Paris. A figure of the French rock scene, he was discovered in 1983 with the song "Cargo". Several times awarded a gold record, he has sold three million records and performed nearly 700 concerts in France and Europe.
Francis Lalanne (born Francis-José Lalanne on 8 August 1958 in Bayonne) is a French-Uruguayan singer, songwriter and poet. He is the brother of composer Jean-Félix Lalanne and film director René Manzor.
Jean-Luc Lahaye (born Jean-Luc Laheaye; 23 December 1952, in Paris) is a French pop singer, former television host and occasional writer.
Lahaye had his greatest success as a singer in the 1980s, with his songs "Femme que j'aime" and "Papa chanteur" (#1 hit in France). After more than ten years of absence, he resumed singing in 2004.
Lahaye is currently facing criminal investigations in France on charges of statutory rape and sexual assault on minors. French media reported in October 2022 that the singer was banned from holding concerts by the Investigating Judge in charge of his case.
Didier René Henri Barbelivien (born 10 March 1954 in Paris) is a French author, lyricist, songwriter and singer. Beginning in the 1970s, he wrote a number of successful songs for artists such as: Dalida, Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou, Daniel Guichard, Claude François, Gilbert Montagné, Sylvie Vartan, Patti Layne, Gilbert Bécaud, Enrico Macias, Demis Roussos, Mireille Mathieu, Hervé Vilard, Michèle Torr, C. Jérôme, Christophe, Julio Iglesias, Sheila, Nicole Croisille, Patricia Kaas, Éric Charden, Jean-Pierre François, Michel Delpech, Philippe Lavil, Elsa, Gérard Lenorman, Ringo, Garou, Corynne Charby, David and Jonathan, and Caroline Legrand among others.
In the 1980s and 1990s, he enjoyed popular success singing his own songs, many of which climbed quickly to the top of the French charts of the era. In the 1990s, he sang several titles with Félix Gray.
He was made Chevalier (Knight) of the Légion d'honneur in 2009.
Pierre Antoine Muraccioli (born 4 June 1944), known professionally as Antoine, is a French pop singer, and also a sailor, adventurer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker.
As a musician, he was part of a new wave of mid-to-late 1960s French singer-songwriters, comparable in some ways to Bob Dylan or Donovan, but also evidencing some of the harder-edged garage rock style similar to The Rolling Stones, The Animals, and Them, and achieving some measure of pop stardom.
Beginning in the 1970s, he de-emphasized his musical endeavors (although he still writes and performs on occasion) in favor of a second career as a solo sailor and adventurer, which he has documented with many books and films.