Bernard Lavilliers

Bernard Lavilliers – born Bernard Oulion on October 7, 1946, in Saint Étienne, France – is a rock vocalist. Inspired the music his parents played – tropical music, Brazilian music, Cuban salsa, and reggae – and received his first record player at the age of 4. As he grew older, he also became interested in politics and poets such as Léo Ferré. By the time he was 20 years old, he was busking on the streets and performing in cabarets in Paris. He released his first singles in 1967, followed a year later by his debut album Chanson pour Ma Mie. He began to achieve more commercial success with his mid-1970s albums Le Stéphanois (1975) and Les Barbares (1976). His success continued with albums such as Pouvoirs (1979), O Gringo (1980), and Nuit d'Amour (1981). In the 1980s, he continued to achieve great success with albums such as Tout Est Permis, Rien N'Est Possible (1984), If (1986), Les Champs du Possible (1994), and Clair-Obscur (1998). Bernard Lavilliers was never afraid to experiment with new styles and in 2001, he tackled electro music on the album Arrêt sur Images. After that musical detour, he returned to his more poetic style on the award-winning Lavilliers Chante les Poètes (2003). During the next decade, he returned to the sounds of his heyday on hit albums like Causes Perdues et Musiques Tropicales (2010), Baron Samedi (2013), 5 Minutes au Paradis (2017), and Sous un Soleil Énorme (2021).