French music was hit by artists and titles that were very famous and are still nowadays. I believe that if I ask you to give me one French musicians name, you won’t really know what to say. That is why I am here, for you to discover something new about French culture. I have listed here for you some amazing French singers from the sixties.
Sheila
Sheila was born in 1945. She is a French pop singer who was really successful in the sixties and seventies. Her first contract was signed in 1962 when she was 16 years old. This collaboration lasted for more than 20 years.
Her first hit was “L’école est finie” (“School is over” in English) in 1962 for which one million copies were sold and was number one in France. Several of her songs where featured in movies such as “Les rois mages” in “Ma vie en rose” a film from 1997.
For more than 10 years her main audience were French teens and then she decided to bring something more mature and modern with the title “Les femmes” (“Women” in English) in 1976 which was number one for 3 months.
In 1977 she started to sing in English and switched style to a disco music with “Spacer” for instance, which was one of her biggest hits. More than 5 million copies were sold worldwide.
In 1981, she started a rock style with the song “Little Darlin'” which was number 49 of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 hit.
She had a break from 1989 to 1998 and then came back successfully with a CD compiling her best hits. Sheila is still famous nowadays, she was and still is a great figure of French music industry.
You can listen to the famous song “L’école est finie” here.
Johnny Hallyday
Johnny Hallyday was born in 1943. He was a French rock and roll and pop singer. During his whole career, he released 79 albums and sold more than 110 million records worldwide. He had 5 diamond albums, 40 golden and 22 platinum.
During his concerts he delivered spectacular shows. He once arrived by jumping from a helicopter. His biggest performance was at the Eiffel Tower in 2000 which recorded a million spectators and 10 million watching on the TV. His shows were produced by Jean-Claude Camus, one of the greatest producers in France.
Through his career, he collaborated with the best French artists such as Charles Aznavour (to know more about him you can take a look at my article “3 French famous singers before the sixties you should know and listen to“).
Johnny was seen as a national icon like Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour.
Here is one of his rock and roll song, and that one much softer to show you his wide range of style.
Patricia Kaas
Patricia Kaas was born in 1966. She has sold over 17 million records worldwide. She participated to the Eurovision song contest in 2009 in Moscow where she sang “Et s’il fallait le faire” (“And if it had to be done” in English) and finished in eighth place.
Gérard Depardieu produced Patricia Kaas’ first single “Jalouse” between 1985 and 1986 but had no success.
The French songwriter Didier Barbelivien, wrote a song for Patricia Kaas which was a hit “Mademoiselle chante le blues” (“Lady sings the blues” in English) released in 1987. Her first album reached the second place in the French charts for two months and for 64 weeks in the Top 10, 118 weeks in the Top 100. Shortly after the album went gold in France (over 100,000 sold) and three months after platinum (over 350,000 sold).
In 1990, Patricia Kaas started her first world tour. She sang in front of 750,000 fans in more than 196 concerts in 12 countries. At the end of her tour, her first album was sold at one million copies.
It is in 1993 with the album called “Je te dis vous” that allowed her to reach the international music scene by selling three million albums in 47 countries.
She continued releasing albums and having a great success. It is between 2012 and 2014 that she has a new project “Kaas chante Piaf” (“Kaas sings Piaf” in English) gathering 21 of the greatest titles from Edith Piaf. If you want to know more about Edith Piaf, you can read my article “3 French famous singers before the sixties you should know and listen to“.
Here is her first hit, I recommend you to listen to it, I love it!
Vanessa Paradis
Vanessa Paradis was born in 1972. She is a singer since the age of 14. She appeared for the first time on television at the age of 7, in a talent show for young singers called “L’école des fans”.
It is in 1983 that she record her first album called “La Magie des surprises-parties” which was not a hit. But in 1987, she interprets “Joe le taxi” which is a success, it stays number one for 11 weeks. This song was released in the United Kingdom where it reached number 3.
In 1992, she moved in the United States to work with Lenny Kravitz. There, she released an album called “Vanessa Paradis”. One of the singles was “Be my baby” which became number 5 in France and in the top 10 in the UK. It is in 1993 that she started her first international tour.
She continued releasing other albums since then, acting in movies, being a model and being the face of Chanel.
If you want to listen to her first hit, click here.
Tell me in the comments which of these French singers from the sixties do you prefer? Feel free to share this article!
A bientôt!