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Patrick Vian

1942 – 2023

French musician (born 1942)

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About Patrick Vian

Lived 1942 – 2023 (aged 80). Patrick Vian was a French singer, guitarist, audio engineer, radio personality, pianist and composer.

Patrick Alain Vian (12 April 1942 – 24 February 2023) was a French musician. He played progressive rock music in the late 1960s with the band Red Noise, which recorded one album. In the 1970s, he composed music for a film and released one solo album, Bruits et Temps Analogues, in 1976.

Biography Patrick Vian was born on 12 April 1942 in Paris. Raised in Angoulême, he was the son of French jazz trumpeter and poet Boris Vian. His father, who died when he was 17, nicknamed him "Bisonnot", "little bison". He was born during World War II and had a turbulent childhood in various places after his parents divorced, spending a long period of time in England and going to boarding school in Switzerland.

Vian first gained notability as a guitar player with the progressive rock band Red Noise (which was associated with Ame Son); the band formed at the Sorbonne in 1968, and played its first show during the occupation of the university. According to Vian, these were exciting times: he later commented that in Red Noise's early days, "their concerts wouldn't end until the cops came." The band released one album, Sarcelles - Lochères, in 1970. The group broke up after they got arrested for possession of hash in the Netherlands. Given the revolutionary times, the band split rather appropriately into a socialist and a Trotskyist section, the latter of which continued under the name Komintern.

In 1975, he composed some of the music for the film Hu-Man (starring Jeanne Moreau and Terence Stamp) by Jérôme Laperrousaz. In 1976, he recorded a solo album, Bruits et Temps Analogues, on the Egg label, which was owned by Barclay Records and designed to present young and innovative musicians (it had Vangelis and Tim Blake under contract). He is included (like Ame Son, Komintern and Red Noise) on the Nurse with Wound list.

From 1976, little was heard of Vian, though he gave an interview to L'Express in 2011, in which he talked at length about his father and his childhood. In 2013, he again appeared in public for the opening of L'Écume des jours, the 2013 movie based on his father's novel of the same name.

Vian later lived in Apt, Vaucluse,

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Important facts

People in Patrick Vian's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Patrick Vian's

Frequently asked questions

Who was Patrick Vian?

French musician (born 1942)

When was Patrick Vian born?

Patrick Vian was born on 12 April 1942 in Angoulême.

When did Patrick Vian die?

Patrick Vian died on 24 February 2023 in Apt.

What was Patrick Vian's occupation?

Patrick Vian was a singer, guitarist, audio engineer, radio personality, pianist and composer.

What nationality was Patrick Vian?

Patrick Vian was French.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Patrick Vian

· Wikidata: Q3369926

· DBpedia: Patrick Vian

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Patrick Vian. https://biography.guide/patrick-vian/

MLA: "Patrick Vian." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/patrick-vian/.

Chicago: "Patrick Vian." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/patrick-vian/.

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