Florent Pagny

Florent Pagny was born in Chalon-sur-Saône on November 6, 1961. He has established himself as one of the best-selling singers on the French chanson scene, from his first hit "N'importe quoi" (No. 1 in 1988) to "Ma Liberté de penser" (No. 1 in 2003), including the controversial "Presse qui roule" (No. 24 in 1990), which earned him a press boycott, and the unanimous "Savoir aimer" (No. 1 in 1997). His baritone-martin voice allowed him to experiment with music, with albums such as Baryton (No. 1 in 2004) and Pagny Chante Brel (No. 3 in 2007). Exiled to Patagonia (South America), then to Miami (USA) and Portugal, he keeps in touch with French audiences via albums such as Tout et Son Contraire (No. 1 in 2010) and Baryton, Gracias a la Vida (No. 2 in 2012), which sees the singer take on the Latin repertoire. In 2013, he collaborated with Calogero on the album Vieillir avec Toi (#1 in 2013). Three years later, the Cuban album Habana (No. 2 in 2016) was produced with songwriter Raúl Paz. Returning to more traditional French chanson, in 2017 he signed the album Le Présent d'Abord (No. 2), which included contributions from Lionel Florence, Maître Gims and Slimane, then, a few months later, recorded an album of covers, Tout Simplement (No. 5 in 2018). A compilation, Toujours et Encore, followed the same year. In 2019, his 19th studio album Aime la Vie (#2) was produced by Daran, while L'Avenir (2021) became his first #1 album since Vieillir avec Toi in 2013. A "coach" on The Voice, la plus belle voix since the 1st edition in 2012, the singer gave up this activity in 2022 due to lung cancer, which he himself reports. After having to cancel a tour to undergo treatment, he invited some twenty of his peers, including Patrick Bruel, Patrick Fiori, Zazie, Pascal Obispo, Calogero, Marc Lavoine, Lara Fabian, Carla Bruni, Kendji Girac, M Pokora, Christophe Maé, Jenifer and Soprano, to join him on the duets album 2 Bis (2023). In 2025, he returned to The Voice after a two-year absence and released the album Grandeur Nature (No. 1 in the SNEP charts), featuring lyrics by Marc Lavoine and Vianney, among others.