Étienne Daho

Étienne Daho is an Algerian-born French singer-songwriter and producer. His combination of soft vocals, Velvet Underground-style rock, surf pop and French romanticism has made him a tremendously popular figure in European rock. His father was a French soldier and his mother a chemist. He was raised in Oran during the War of Algeria before moving to Rennes with his family. Here, inspired by listening to performers like Francoise Hardy, he dreamed of becoming a singer.

He organised an early punk concert at Rennes University featuring Stinky Toys and Marquis de Sade, with both acts encouraging him to write and perform. After playing the Rennes clubs, Daho made his debut with the album 'Mythomane'. His second album, 'La Notte, La Notte', included the hit single 'Weekend à Rome'. He made his breakthrough with his third album 'Pour Nos Vies Martiennes', which went gold on the day of its release. He recorded a tribute to the Motown and Stax labels with 'Paris Ailleurs' and had a hit with a cover of Edith Piaf's 'Mon Manège a Moi'. Another very successful album was 1996's best-selling electronic work 'Eden', while he changed style again with the heavy rock influenced 2004 work 'Réévolution'.

He is best known in the UK for Saint Etienne's 'He's On the Phone', a 1995 English language cover of Daho's song 'Weekend in Rome'. Daho pushes boundaries and has worked with many other artists including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marianne Faithfull and Vanessa Paradis. In 2016 he performed The Velvet Underground's 'I'll Be Your Mirror' with John Cale in their tribute concert at the Philharmonie de Paris. His most recent album is 2017's 'Blitz'.