Bénabar
Encyclopedia
Bénabar is a French songwriter and singer, who could be compared to Vincent Delerm
and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens
, Renaud
, Jacques Higelin
and also Tom Waits
. His songs describe day-to-day life events with humour and a tender cynicism. His songs draw influence from French Chanson
and a heavy influence is placed on the piano or the accordion and on typical French fanfare (brass band) for the most upbeat of them. This genre of music is very typically French and differs from most in that emphasis is placed on appreciation of the lyrics and that it is linked to a specific culture of modern "guinche" (slang for "guinguette") appreciated a lot by Bobos
among others.
" of Barnabé, the name he was using on stage). With "Les associés" he sang for several years in small places in France, Belgium, Switzerland before becoming more and more popular after the release of Bénabar (2001) that enabled him to be the opening act for Henri Salvador
. He was nominated as a Revelation for the "Victoires de la musique 2003" but did not win it. In 2004, after the successful release of Les risques du métier, he won the award for "album "chanson/variété" of the year". His next album Reprise des négociations sold better than the previous ones: according to Le Figaro, Bénabar reached number 4 for CD sales in France, with 2.18 million euros sales in 2006. In 2007 he won the awards for "Male group or artist of the year" and "original song of the year" (for Le dîner).
A Chart peak for Ultratip.
Vincent Delerm
Vincent Delerm is a French singer-songwriter, pianist and composer. He is the son of the writer Philippe Delerm....
and other singers from his generation. As many of them he was influenced by Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
, Renaud
Renaud
Renaud, born Renaud Séchan, is a French singer, songwriter and actor.Renaud may also refer to:* Renaud , a male French given name* Renaud , a 1783 opera by Antonio Sacchini* Renaud, Quebec, part of Laval, Quebec...
, Jacques Higelin
Jacques Higelin
Jacques Joseph Victor Higelin is a French pop singer who rose to prominence in the early 1970s. Early in his career, many of Higelin's songs were effectively blacklisted from French radio because of his controversial left wing political beliefs, and his association with socialist groups...
and also Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
. His songs describe day-to-day life events with humour and a tender cynicism. His songs draw influence from French Chanson
Chanson
A chanson is in general any lyric-driven French song, usually polyphonic and secular. A singer specialising in chansons is known as a "chanteur" or "chanteuse" ; a collection of chansons, especially from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, is also known as a chansonnier.-Chanson de geste:The...
and a heavy influence is placed on the piano or the accordion and on typical French fanfare (brass band) for the most upbeat of them. This genre of music is very typically French and differs from most in that emphasis is placed on appreciation of the lyrics and that it is linked to a specific culture of modern "guinche" (slang for "guinguette") appreciated a lot by Bobos
Bobos in Paradise
Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There is a book by David Brooks, first published in 2000. The word bobo, Brooks's most famous coinage, is a portmanteau of the words bourgeois and bohemian. The term is used by Brooks to describe the 1990s descendants of the yuppies...
among others.
Biography
Bénabar began his career in the cinema, working as an assistant on Le Brasier (1991) and directed three short subjects Nada Lezard (1991), Sursum corda (1994) et José Jeannette (1992). He then turned to music, working for some time with his friend Patchol who gave him his nickname (Bénabar being the "verlanVerlan
Verlan is an argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of individual words to create slang words...
" of Barnabé, the name he was using on stage). With "Les associés" he sang for several years in small places in France, Belgium, Switzerland before becoming more and more popular after the release of Bénabar (2001) that enabled him to be the opening act for Henri Salvador
Henri Salvador
Henri Salvador was a French Caribbean singer.-Biography:Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of a native Indian from the Caribbean, were both from Guadeloupe, French West Indies...
. He was nominated as a Revelation for the "Victoires de la musique 2003" but did not win it. In 2004, after the successful release of Les risques du métier, he won the award for "album "chanson/variété" of the year". His next album Reprise des négociations sold better than the previous ones: according to Le Figaro, Bénabar reached number 4 for CD sales in France, with 2.18 million euros sales in 2006. In 2007 he won the awards for "Male group or artist of the year" and "original song of the year" (for Le dîner).
Personal life
He has two brothers named Patrick and Sébastien. He has a son born in 2004 and named Manolo and a daughter born in 2009.Studio albums
| Year | Album | FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
BE Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
SZ Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | La p'tite monnaie
|
194 | - | - | |
| 2001 | Bénabar | 20 | - | - | France: Platinum (510,100) |
| 2003 | Les risques du métier | 6 | 31 | 40 | France: Platinum (569,300) |
| 2005 | Reprise des négociations | 1 | 5 | 25 | France: Diamond (1.045.400) |
| 2008 | Infréquentable | 1 | 1 | 6 | France: Platinum (200,000) |
Live albums
| Year | Album | FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
BE Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
SZ Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Live au Grand Rex | 10 | 28 | 41 | France: Gold (173.100) |
Compilations
| Year | Album | FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
BE Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
SZ Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Couche-tard et lève-tôt
|
- | - | - | |
| 2007 | Best of | - | 5 | 53 | France: Gold (75,000) |
Singles
| Year | Single | FR France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
BE | SZ Switzerland Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "L'itineraire" | - | - | - | Les risques du métier |
| "Dis-lui, oui" | - | - | - | ||
| "Je suis de celles" | - | - | - | ||
| 2005 | "Le diner" | - | - | - | Reprise des négociations |
| "Maritie & Gilbert Carpentier" | - | - | - | ||
| "Quatre murs et un toit" | - | - | - | ||
| 2008 | "L'effet papillion" | - | 4 | 65 | Infréquentable |
| 2009 | "À la campagne" | - | 12 A | - | |
| "Une petite cantate" (with Keim, Jenifer Jenifer Bartoli Jenifer Yaël Dadouche-Bartoli , better known as simply Jenifer, is a pop singer who has, since 2002, had a number of hit singles in the French, Belgium and Swiss charts... and Raphaël Raphaël -List of people with the given name Raphaël:*Raphaël Haroche*Raphaël Salem*Raphaël Ibañez*Raphaël Bohren*Raphaël Piolanti*Raphaël Wicky*Raphaël Poulain*Raphaël Nadé*Raphaël Géminiani*Raphaël Alibert*Raphaël Poirée*Raphaël Lévy*Raphaël Jacquelin... |
- | 29 | - | 2009: Les Enfoirés font leur cinéma (Various Artists) | |
| "Pas du tout" | - | 22 A | - | Infréquentable | |
| "Infréquentable" | - | 24 A | - |
A Chart peak for Ultratip.