Michel Sardou

Michel Charles Sardou (; born 26 January 1947) is a French singer and occasional actor.

Sardou is known not only for his love songs ("La maladie d'amour", "Je vais t'aimer"), but also for songs dealing with various social and political issues, such as the rights of women in Islamic countries ("Musulmanes"), clerical celibacy ("Le curé"), colonialism ("Le temps des colonies", "Ils ont le pétrole mais c'est tout") or the death penalty ("Je suis pour"). Another sometimes controversial theme found in some of his songs ("Les Ricains" and "Monsieur le Président de France" for example) is his respect and support for the culture and foreign policies of the United States of America. He has been accused of being a racist due to his 1976 song "Le temps des colonies", in which a former colonial soldier proudly tells his memories of colonialism, but Sardou has always claimed the song was sarcastic. His 1981 single "Les lacs du Connemara" was an international hit (especially in the Netherlands). A number of his hit songs were written in collaboration with Jacques Revaux and Pierre Delanoë, a few others (most notably "En chantant") with Italian singer Toto Cutugno.

Sardou sold out eighteen consecutive dates at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 2001, while his 2004 album Du plaisir went straight to the number one spot on the French album charts. With a recording career of fifty years, Sardou has released 25 studio albums, 18 live albums and has recorded more than 350 songs (chiefly in French but also in Spanish, Italian and even English) and has sold more than 100 million records. Currently he is considered one of the most popular artists in the Francophone world and one of the most lucrative, both in sales and in his shows.

Biography Childhood Michel Sardou was born on 26 January 1947 in Paris. His father, Fernand Sardou, was a singer and an actor while his mother, Jackie Sardou was an actress.

Career The early stages (1965–1970) Sardou began working as a waiter in his father's cabaret in Montmartre. while France left NATO's integrated military command and the Vietnam War was causing anti-American sentiment in France, Sardou released "Les Ricains" (The Yanks), a song which stated the debt of gratitude towards the US for the liberation of France. (which stands for Talar Revaux Éditions Musicales Associées), which would produce his records, with his friends Jacques Revaux (who will become his most loyal composer) and Régis Talar, a French record producer.

Success and controversies (1970–1980) Sardou really met true success in 1970, when he released his first studio album, J'habite en France.

The next year, in 1977, Sardou moved away from politics. His next album, La java de Broadway, contained famous songs, such as "La java de Broadway" ("Broadway Java"), "Dix ans plus tôt" ("Ten years earlier") and a revival of the Claude François hit "Comme d'habitude" (the tune of which is best known to English-speaking audiences as "My Way"). The album was a huge success, exactly like the next Je vole (1978), which gave him one of his biggest hits, "En chantant" ("Singing"), written together with the Italian singer Toto Cutugno.

A legend in motion (1981–2001) The 1980s began under good omens for the singer, with the album Les lacs du Connemara from which came two songs considered important to the entire canon of French popular music: "Les lacs du Connemara" ("The Lakes of Connemara") and "Être une femme" ("Being a woman").

Throughout the decade, Sardou had a lot of success : "Afrique adieu" ("Farewell, Africa") in 1982, "Il était là" ("He was here") in 1982, "Rouge" ("Red") in 1984, "Chanteur de jazz" ("Jazz Singer") in 1985, "La même eau qui coule" ("The same water flowing") in 1988... because his sales did not slow down, whereas a lot of his contemporaries had been forgotten during the disco boom.

However, Sardou did not shy away from controversial songs, and even had success with several of them : "Vladimir Ilitch", in 1983, which both pays tribute to the ideas of Lenin and denounces the drift of the Soviet Union away from them; "Les deux écoles" ("The Two Schools"), in 1984, which recalls the opposition between the free school and the private school with a defence of private schools; "Musulmanes" ("Muslim women"), in 1986, which casts a pessimistic and bitter look at the rights of women in Islamic countries but which also pays a tribute to Arabic culture.

At the end of the 1980s, Sardou received the recognition of his peers by being awarded a Music Victory for "Musulmanes" as the best song of the year.

In the 1990s, the run of hit singles dried up, even if his four albums had very good sales. Sardou chose, for his shows in Paris, the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1998 and 2001, and managed to fill this small stadium for a total of 88 times after his tour in 2001, each time with more than spectators. He also holds the record of attendances and performances for this stadium.

Sardou received, in 1990 and in 1999, the Music Victory for the biggest number of spectators gathered at the end of a tour (in 1998, nearly people have come to see him on stage. 100,000 tickets for the tour sold out in just eight hours.

In September 2023, Sardou released a previously unreleased song, recorded in 1992, titled "En quelle année Georgia," co-written with Didier Barbelivien and composed by Jean-Pierre Bourtayre.

On March 13, 2024, in an interview with Le Parisien, Sardou announced his retirement from the world of music and theater. He also mentioned that he might consider acting in a film directed by Olivier Marchal, should Marchal be interested.

Personal life Sardou married Françoise Pettré, a dancer, in 1965. They were married in Neuilly-sur-Seine by then-mayor Nicolas Sarkozy.

1968 Petit – Les Ricains

1970 J'habite en France

FRA: Gold 1972 Danton

1973 La maladie d'amour

FRA: Gold 1976 La vieille

FRA: Gold 1997 Salut

BEL: Gold FRA: 2× Platinum 2000 Français

BEL: Gold FRA: Platinum FRA: Diamond FRA: Platinum FRA: 3× Platinum FRA: 2× Platinum The song also has a tourism impact, with an estimated 350,000 additional visits to Connemara. Kylemore Abbey, the first tourist attraction in the region, has 20% French visitors, and guided tours are offered in this language. Of the 350,000 French who visit Ireland annually, more than half go to Connemara. "Musulmanes" ("Muslim women"), released in 1986. Sardou casts a pessimistic gaze on the status of women in Arabic countries. The song received, in 1987, the Music Victory for the best song of the year. "La rivière de notre enfance" ("The River of our childhood"), released in 2004. Performed in duet with the Canadian singer Garou, the song nostalgically evokes the traces of our childhood which persist in our lives. This song, extracted from his album Du plaisir, also marked his comeback after three years of inactivity.

Collaborations and appearances 1980: Musical Les Misérables 1989: "Pour toi Arménie", collective charity song headed by Charles Aznavour 2000: Happy Birthday Live – Parc de Sceaux 15 June 2000 (live album that remained unpublished from 2000 until album 2020), in duet with Johnny Hallyday on "Quelque chose de Tennessee" 2004: Eddy Mitchell's Frenchy Tour, released as a live album, where Sardou sang in duet the song "Sur la route de Memphis"

Victoires de la Musique

Other activities

Theatre manager Sardou was the owner of the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris from 2001 to 2003.

Theatre actor 1996 : Bagatelle(s) by Noël Coward, directed by Pierre Mondy, in the Théâtre de Paris, with Natacha Amal, Philippe Khorsand, Frédéric Diefenthal... 1999 : Comédie privée by Neil Simon, directed by Adrian Brine, in the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie Bell, with Marie-Anne Chazel. 2001–2002 : L'Homme en question by Félicien Marceau, directed by Jean-Luc Tardieu, on tour and in the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, with Brigitte Fossey, Davy Sardou... 2008–2009 : Secret de famille by Éric Assous, directed by Jean-Luc Moreau, in the Théâtre des Variétés, with Davy Sardou, Laurent Spielvogel, Mathilde Penin, Elisa Servier and Rita Brantalou. 2014 : Si on recommençait by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, directed by Steve Suissa, in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, with Anna Gaylor and Florence Coste. 2015 : Représailles by Éric Assous, in the Théâtre de la Michodière, with Marie-Anne Chazel.

Film actor 1982 : L'été de nos 15 ans by Marcel Jullian: Bernard. with Cyrielle Claire, Elisa Servier and others 1987 : Cross by Philippe Setbon: Thomas Crosky, called Cross. With Roland Giraud, Patrick Bauchau, Marie-Anne Chazel and others 1990 : Promotion canapé by Didier Kaminka: Bernard. With Grace de Capitani, Thierry Lhermitte, Claude Rich, Patrick Chesnais, Jean-Pierre Castaldi, Zabou, Martin Lamotte, Pierre Richard, Eddy Mitchell and others

TV actor 1993: L'irlandaise by José Giovanni : Régis Cassani. With Jean-Michel Dupuis, Thérèse Liotard... 2003: Le prix de l'honneur by Gérard Marx : le colonel Christian Legoff. With Alexandra Vandernoot...