Laurent Voulzy
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Laurent Voulzy | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | Lucien Voulzy 18 December 1948 Paris, France |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Website | laurentvoulzy.com <FR> |
Lucien Voulzy (French pronunciation: [lysjɛ̃ vulzi], born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy ([loʁɑ̃ vulzi]), is a French singer-songwriter, composer, and musician.
Life and career
[edit]Laurent Voulzy was born in Paris, France. Early in his musical career, he led the English-pop-influenced group Le Temple de Vénus before joining singer Pascal Danel as a guitarist from 1969 to 1974. Voulzy is best known for his long-standing songwriting collaboration with Alain Souchon, as well as for his own successful solo career as a singer.
He achieved international recognition with the 1977 hit single "Rockollection", which combined original French lyrics with excerpts from classic rock songs in English.[1] Among his other major hits are "Paradoxal Système", which reached the Top 10 in France, and "Le Soleil Donne", a multilingual song featuring lyrics in French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.[2][3]
Another notable success was the double single "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante"/"Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde", the latter inspired by English pop singer Kim Wilde.[4][5][6][7]
Other popular titles in his discography include "Bopper en larmes", "Le Cœur Grenadine", and "Désir, désir".[8] Voulzy's music also found success in Belgium, Switzerland, and Québec, often incorporating multiple languages in his lyrics, including English,[9] Spanish,[10] Portuguese,[11] and German.
In 2005, Voulzy co-produced and co-composed Nolwenn Leroy's second album, Histoires Naturelles.
His 2006 album La Septième Vague topped the French charts. It included a cover of "All I Have to Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers, recorded as a duet with Irish singer Andrea Corr. The track was released as a single and featured on The Corrs' compilation album Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection.
In 2007, Voulzy recorded a duet with French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel for Danel's album Guitar Connection 2. The song reached No. 7 on the French charts in 2008. That same year, he also toured throughout France.
In 2011, Voulzy released the album Lys and Love, which featured the song "Ma seule amour", a duet with Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who.[12]
Discography
[edit]Studio albums
[edit]| Year | Album | Record label |
Peak positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Fl) |
BEL (Wa) [14] |
SWI [15] | |||
| 1979 | Le Cœur grenadine | RCA | ||||
| 1983 | Bopper en larmes | |||||
| 1992 | Caché derrière | Ariola | 9[16] | |||
| 2001 | Avril | RCA | 3 | — | 4 | 50 |
| 2006 | La Septième Vague | 1 | — | 1 | 7 | |
| 2008 | Recollection | 2 | — | 1 | 20 | |
| 2011 | Lys & Love | Columbia | 2 | — | 1 | 30 |
| 2014 | Alain Souchon & Laurent Voulzy (joint album with Alain Souchon) |
Parlophone | 1 | 117 | 1 | 8 |
| 2017 | Belem | Columbia | 5 | — | 4 | 31 |
| 2020 | Florilège | 43 | — | 20 | 95 | |
Live albums
[edit]| Year | Album | Record label |
Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Wa) |
SWI | |||
| 1994 | Voulzy Tour | Ariola | 5[16] | ||
| 2004 | Le Gothique flamboyant pop dancing tour | RCA | 10 | 12 | |
| 2013 | Lys & Love Tour (live) | Columbia | 18 | 28 | |
| 2019 | Mont Saint-Michel (live) | 24 [17] |
24 | 89 | |
Compilations
[edit]| Year | Album | Record label |
Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Wa) |
SWI | |||
| 2002 | Les Essentiels 1977–1988 | RCA | 6[16] | ||
| 2003 | Saisons, Le double best of 1977–2003 | 2[16] | 8 | 46 | |
| 2012 | Belle île en mer 1977–1988 | Columbia | 167 | – | – |
Singles
[edit]- 1977: "Rockollection"
- 1978: "Bubble Star"
- 1979: "Le Cœur grenadine"
- 1979: "Karin Redinger"
- 1979: "Cocktail chez Mademoiselle"
- 1980: "Surfing Jack"
- 1981: "Idéal simplifié"
- 1983: "Bopper en larmes"
- 1983: "Liebe"
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Wa) |
SWI | |||
| 1984 | "Désir désir" (duo with Véronique Jannot) |
29 |
| ||
| 1985 | "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie Galante" / "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" (featuring Kim Wilde) |
20 | |||
| 1987 | "My Song of You" | 31 | |||
| 1989 | "Le soleil donne" | 21 | |||
| 1992 | "Paradoxal Système" | 10 | |||
| 1993 | "Le pouvoir des fleurs" | – | |||
| "Caché derrière" | – | ||||
| "Le rêve du pêcheur" | 37 | ||||
| 1995 | "Rockollection (Live 95)" | 37 | 39 | ||
| 2001 | "Une héroïne" | – | – | ||
| 2002 | "La fille d'Avril" | 26 | 8 (Ultratip) |
||
| "Amélie Colbert" | 36 | – | |||
| 2003 | "Là où je vais" | – | – | ||
| 2006 | "Derniers baisers" | 8 | 17 | 96 | |
| 2008 | "My Song of You" (instrumental duo with Jean-Pierre Danel) |
– | – | – | |
| "Jelly Bean" | – | 3 (Ultratip) |
– | ||
| 2009 | "Le vent qui va" | – | – | – | |
| 2011 | "Jeanne" | 14 | 4 | – | |
| 2012 | "C'était déjà toi" | – | 6 (Ultratip) |
– | |
| "En regardant vers le pays de France" (featuring Nolwenn Leroy, backing vocals) |
– | 15 (Ultratip) |
– | ||
| 2014 | "Derrière les mots" (duet with Alain Souchon) |
35 | 22 | – | |
| "La baie des fourmis" (duet with Alain Souchon) |
197 | – | – | ||
| 2017 | "Spirit of Samba" (featuring Chyler Leigh, Nina Miranda and Luisa Maita) |
99 [19] |
– | – | |
References
[edit]- ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Rockollection Part I". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Le soleil donne". lescharts.com.
- ^ "Laurent Voulzy – Le soleil donne (1988)". YouTube. January 2007.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante". lescharts.com.
- ^ "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde". Wilde Life.
- ^ "Laurent Voulzy and Kim Wilde live, 1986". YouTube. 26 January 2018.
- ^ "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde". YouTube. 10 November 2006.
- ^ "The Best of Laurent Voulzy – Archive INA". YouTube. 25 May 2018.
- ^ "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde – Live at Le Zénith de Paris (1993)". YouTube. 30 December 2020.
- ^ "Le Soleil Donne – Live at Le Zénith (1993)". YouTube. 16 December 2020.
- ^ "Meu Samba Pra Você (1983)". YouTube. 8 November 2014.
- ^ "Un duo avec Roger Daltrey (The Who) sur le prochain Voulzy". 15 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Laurent Voulzy discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "Discographie Laurent Voulzy". Ultratop. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ "Discographie Laurent Voulzy". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste".
- ^ "Top Albums (Week 50, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Euro-crossover" (PDF). Music & Media. 29 April 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 37, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 19 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
External links
[edit]
- (in French) Laurent Voulzy (official site)
- Biography of Laurent Voulzy, from Radio France Internationale
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1948 births
- Living people
- Musicians from Paris
- Singers from Paris
- 20th-century French composers
- 21st-century French composers
- 21st-century French male composers
- 21st-century French singers
- French male pop singers
- 20th-century French male musicians
- 21st-century French male singers
- French male singer-songwriters
- French singer-songwriters
- English-language singers from France
- Musicians from Val-de-Marne