Thomas Fersen

One of the finest talents to emerge from the new wave of French chanson in the 1990s, and a mentor to the next, Thomas Fersen quickly won over the public with his cleverly arranged, rhyming ritornellos. Indubitably Parisian, the author, composer and performer was born on January 4, 1963, and grew up in a classical environment with a piano-loving father. Introduced to rock music by his sisters, the teenager received his first guitar at the age of fourteen and, with his baccalaureate in hand, worked as a cable installer while honing a repertoire that he unveiled in 1986 under the name Thomas Fersen, which is not his real surname, since he was born François Louis Gontard. After his first single, released two years later, and a few seasons in the piano bar, his talent immediately shone through on his inaugural album, Le Bal des Oiseaux (1993), which won him the title of Male Revelation of the Year at the Victoires de la Musique awards. Signed by WEA Music, he moved to Denmark to record his next album, Les Ronds de Carotte (1995), before joining the independent label Tôt ou Tard, to which he has remained loyal ever since. A poetic and humorous songwriter, a fine composer who knows how to surround himself, Fersen saw his audience grow with the albums Le Jour du Poisson (1997), gold disc and Prix Raoul-Breton, then Qu4tre (1998), honored by the Académie Charles-Cros. A three-year tour followed, resulting in the triple album Triplex (2001), before returning to the studio for Pièce Montée des Grands Jours (2003). The lover of animal species, which feature abundantly in his visuals and songs, reviews his classics on the ukulele in Gratte-Moi la Puce : Best of de Poche (2007). Still at the top of the bill for Trois Petits Tours (2008), he returned three years later with the phantasmagorical Je Suis au Paradis (2011). In 2013, the unusual singer took a rock trip on Thomas Fersen & the Ginger Accident, then turned to country for Un Coup de Queue de Vache (2017), followed by Tout Ce Qu'il Me Reste (2019). In 2025, once the Covid-19 pandemic had passed, Fersen made a return to light pop and sophistication with Le Choix de la Reine (2025), featuring the Trio SR9 and their marimbas.