"Dur dur d'être bébé!", which was retitled "Dur dur d'être bébé! (It's Tough to Be a Baby)" for its American audience, is a 1992 song recorded by French

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...

 singer Jordy Lemoine, and was credited to him under the name Jordy

Jordy

Jordy Claude Daniel Lemoine , known as Jordy, is a French singer and musician.-Biography:Jordy is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest singer ever to have a #1 charted single. He achieved this feat at the age of four-and-a-half with the song "Dur dur d'être bébé !"...

. The first single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from his debut album Pochette surprise, it was released in September 1992 and achieved notable success across the world, particularly in France.

Background

After having tried to involve Jordy in TV advertisements for nappies where the baby should repeat "hard, hard to be wet", Claude Lemoine, Jordy's father, had the idea of using dance music and simple lyrics to create a catchy song. The result was well-received in discothèques, which convinced Lemoine to release it as a commercial single.

Charts performances and records

Thanks to this song, Jordy was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest singer ever to reach number one on a singles chart. He achieved this feat in France in October 1992 at the age of four and a half, beating the previous world record held by Osamu Minagawa and French record held by Elsa Lunghini

Elsa Lunghini

Elsa Lunghini, stage name Elsa , is a French singer and actress. She was a famous teenage pop-star in the late-1980s. In 1986, she was the youngest singer ever to reach number one in the French charts with the single T'en va pas, and she went on to sell millions of records during the decade...

. Jordy was also the youngest artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 58 with the song.

"Dur dur d'être bébé!" entered the French chart at number four on 26 September 1992, rose to number two for two weeks, and then topped the chart for 15 weeks, which was the record at the time. The previous record for the longest stretch atop the French chart had belonged to Images' "Les Démons de minuit

Les Démons de minuit

"Les Démons de minuit" is the debut single of the French band Images. Released in June 1986, it was the first single from their first album Album d'Images. Very popular, the song was a huge hit in France...

" (1986) and Licence IV's "Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison

Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison

"Viens boire un p'tit coup à la maison" is a 1987 song recorded by the French band Licence IV. Released as a single in March 1987, the song achieved a huge success in France, becoming the best-selling single of the 1980s in France.-Music and lyrics:...

" (1987), at 13 weeks apiece. Following its stay atop the chart, Jordy's single held the number two slot for another four weeks, eventually totalling 26 weeks in the French top ten and 30 weeks in the top 50. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" was also a dance hit across Europe, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia and Japan.

The song is currently the 224th best-selling single of all time in France. An English-language version and a mix version were also recorded and are available on the album Pochette Surprise

Pochette Surprise (Surprise Package)

Pochette Surprise is the first album by singer Jordy. When it was released in France in 1992, he was only four years old. Its first single "Dur dur d'être bébé!" charted at #1 for 15 weeks, making Jordy the youngest recording artist to ever reach #1...

.

Cover versions

In 2010, the song was covered by Bébé Lilly

Bébé Lilly

Bébé Lilly is an animated baby girl singer in France. She has released thirteen singles, mainly in French, but several have also been recorded in other languages. She also has four albums and a DVD...

 and released as single in France, where it hit number 15 for two weeks on the singles chart.

Track listings

• CD single

1. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (single mix) — 3:23
2. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (techno mix) — 4:07

• CD maxi

1. "Dur dur d'être bébé" (single mix) — 3:24
2. "Dur dur d'être bébé" (club mix) — 5:21
3. "Dur dur d'être bébé" (dob mix) — 5:21
4. "Dur dur d'être bébé" (techno mix) — 4:07

• 7" single

1. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (single mix) — 3:23
2. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (techno mix) — 4:07

• 12" maxi

1. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (single mix) — 3:23
2. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (techno mix) — 4:07

• Cassette

1. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (single mix) — 3:23
2. "Dur dur d'être bébé!" (techno mix) — 4:07

Peak positions

Chart (1992/93)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	37
Austrian Singles Chart	3
Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting...	3
French SNEP Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	8
Norwegian Singles Chart	5
Swedish Singles Chart	14
Swiss Singles Chart	20
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	58
U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Tracks	11

End of year charts

End of year chart (1993)	Position
Dutch Top 40	89

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified	Physical sales
France	Platinum	1993	500,000	751,000

Chart successions