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Johnny Hallyday. Photo by Georges Biard-

20 Most Famous French Singers

France’s music reflects a diverse array of styles, from pop, classic, cabaret, rock, electronic music and chanson style. The earliest known sound recording device in the world, the phonautograph, was invented in France by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville in 1857.

Over time France has produced numerous artists who have become loved in French and have risen internationally. In this article, you will learn about 20 most famous French singers.

1. Edith Piaf

Born as Edith Giovanna Gassion, she was a French singer and the most iconic of the voices of France. She started her music career by performing on the street, then in a club after a club owner discovered her in Pigalle and gained international fame after World War II. Piaf music specialized in Chanson realiste and torch ballads about love, sorrow and loss. Some of her hit songs include La Vie en rose, Milord, 尝鈥橝肠肠辞谤诲别辞苍颈蝉迟别, La Foule and Non, je ne regretted rien.

Even after her death, various films and biographies have studied her life. On December 19, 2015, a concert at The Town Hall in New York City commemorated the 100th anniversary of Piaf鈥檚 birth.

2. Cali

Cali. Photo by Patrice CALATAYU-

Since the early 2000s, Cali has been a famous French singer. At 17, he was influenced by Irish punk, which influenced the style of his first band, Penetration anale and later became a member of several bands such as Les Rebelles, Indy and Tom Scarlett. Guitars, bass, and drums pop-rock accompany his music, and he sometimes uses saxophone, violin, trumpet and trombone. His music has been successful, releasing various albums such as L鈥檃mour parfait, Menteur and 尝鈥檈蝉辫辞颈谤. Some of the hit singles include, Pensons a l鈥檃venir, Elle m鈥檃 dit and C鈥檈st quand le Bonheur.

3. Johnny Hallyday

His actual name was Jean-Philippe Leo Smet, a famous French rock and roll and pop singer who brought rock and roll to France. Elvis Presley and the 1950s rock and roll revolution influenced him. Johnny’s career spanned over six decades; he sold over 110 million records worldwide, mostly in French-speaking countries and released 79 albums. 

His music career was hugely successful; he sang an estimated 1,154 songs and performed 540 duets with 187 artists. Throughout his career, he had 40 golden albums, 5 diamond albums, 22 platinum albums and won ten Victoires de la Musique. Some of his famous songs include Let鈥檚 Twist Again, Retiens La Nuit, Que Je T鈥檃ime and Noir C鈥檈st Noir.

4. Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa Paradis. Photo by Georges Biard-

At the age of 14, Vanessa Paradis gained international success as a French singer for her single Joe le taxi in 1987. She is also a model and an actress. At 18, she received highest honor as a singer and an actress with the Prix Romy Schneider, Victoires de la Musique for Best Female Singer for her album Variations Sur le meme t鈥檃ime and the Cesar Award for Most Promising Actress. Vanessa has been a muse to numerous musicians and lyricists, such as Lenny Kravitz, Matthieu Chedid, The Bees and Serge Gainsbourg. Some of her famous songs include Marilyn & John and Be My Baby.

As a model, she has worked and appeared on more than 300 magazine covers worldwide, including Elle, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Marie Claire, Premiere, Harper鈥檚 Bazaar, Paris Match and Madame Figaro.

5. Julien Dore

Dore is a French singer, songwriter and actress. He won the television show Nouvelle Star in 2017, contributing to his successful musical career with three albums. Ersatz in 2008, Bichon in 2011 and Love in 2013, all reaching the top four on the official French Albums Chart. He has become a household name in French for his songs and for collaborating with other French singers. Some of his popular songs include Coco Caline, Le Lac, and Sublime & silence.

Read more about Top 10 French Female Singers

6. Serge Gainsbourg

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Born Lucien Ginsburg, he was a singer, author, filmmaker and actor. He made music from every genre: funk, reggae, jazz, pop, chanson, ye-ye, rock, electronica and zouk. Although he is one of the most influential and famous French musicians, his music was renowned for being provocative, sexual, humorous, and bizarre, with subversive overtones and satirical. His popular songs include Bonnie and Clyde, La Chanson de pervert and Le Poinconneur des Lilas.

Since his death, he has become one of the beloved French public figures and gained a huge following worldwide with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with Je t鈥檃ime鈥� moi non plus and Bonnie and Clyde.

7. Alain Bashung

Alain Bashung was a French singer-songwriter and actor. He is often credited with reviving the French chanson and is regarded in his country as the most important French rock musician after Serge Gainsbourg. He gained fame in the 1980s with hit songs like Gaby oh Gaby and Vertige de l鈥檃mour and later had a string of hit songs such as La nuit je mans, Osez Josephine and Ma petite entreprise.

Alain influenced many French artists and had greatest albums such as Osez Josephine, Play blessures, Bleu petrole, Fantaisie militaire and 尝鈥橧尘辫谤耻诲别苍肠别. He is the most awarded artist in the Victoires de la Musique with 12 victories.

8. Jean-Jacques Goldman

Jean-Jacques Goldman. Photo by Sandrine Joly-

Goldman is a famous French singer-songwriter and music record producer. Since 2017, he has been the highest-grossing living French pop-rock act, had a highly successful solo career in the 1980s and was part of the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones releasing a string of hits in the 1990s. From 1986 to 2016, he was part of the Les Enfoires charity and got his most notable official recognition in the English-speaking world for winning a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997.

He wrote successful albums and songs for many artists, including 顿鈥檈耻虫 for Celine Dion, the most successful French language record to date. He is retired, but he remains highly appreciated and influential in France.

9. Carla Bruni

Carli is an Italian-born French naturalized singer, fashion model and former First Lady of France. Her modelling career was from 1987 to 1997, after which she appeared in the music scene, releasing her first album, Quelqu鈥檜n m鈥檃 dit in 2003, which spent 34 weeks in the top 10 of the French Albums Chart.

In 2004, she won the Victoire Award for Female Artist of the Year at the 2004 Victoires de la Musique. Still, in 2004, she released her second album, No Promises and kept releasing more albums. Bruni has sold 5 million albums during her career. She created the Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Foundation for philanthropic efforts in 2009.

10. Dalida

Dalida at RAI TV set in 1974. Photo outsourced from

Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, 鈥淒alida鈥� was an Italian-French singer born in Egypt. She sang in eleven languages and sold millions of records across France, Europe and internationally. Some of her best songs include Bambino, 闯鈥檃迟迟别苍诲谤补颈, Gondolier, Les enfants du Piree and Le temps des fleurs. However, she had a troubling personal life which sank her into depression and worsened when her partner committed suicide. Twenty years later, she committed suicide. Since her death, many of her hits have been remixed to modern techno and dance beats.

Discover more about Top 10 Incredible Facts about Dalida

11. Zaz

Born as Isabelle Geffroy, she is a French singer who mixes French variety, jazzy styles, acoustic and soul. She began her singing career in 2001, and in 2010 she gained instant recognition for her single Je veux, following this, she won European Border Breakers Awards (EBBA).

She joined several bands and music groups, always bringing her unusual style to the mix. Zaz has released five albums with popular songs like Demain C鈥檈st Toi, On ira, and Sous le ciel de Paris.

12. Lomepal

Lomepal. Photo by Thesupermat-

Lomepal is a French rapper and singer from Paris, France. He has had a successful music career releasing five EP鈥檚 (Extended Play) and three studio albums: Flip in 2017 and Jeannine in 2018, both certified double platinum by the SNEP and Mauvais Ordre in 2022. 

13. Matthieu Chedid 鈥淢鈥�

Known by his stage name M, Matthieu is a French rock singer and guitar player brought up in a musical background. He was the son of French singer Louis Chedid, and during his early teenage years, he formed a few short-lasting groups such as Tam Tam, Les Bebes fous and Les Poissons Rouges.

Matthieu collaborated with several artists such as Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Hallyday, Sean Lennon and Brigitte Fontaine. His career has been a success being the most-awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique awards with 13 awards.

14. Sandrine Piau

Sandrine is a French soprano born in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France; she had studied harp but turned to sing at the Conservatoire de Paris. She is known for her Baroque music and modernist art song. Sandrine has collaborated with many of the leading Baroque revival European conductors, such as Rene Jacobs, Marc Minkowski and Paul McCreesh. Subsequently, she can perform works from Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, Debussy, Poulenc and Schumann. She has an active career in concerts and operas and is prolific in studio recordings. 

In 2006, the French government named her a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

15. Manu Chao

Manu Chao. Photo by Frenciscobcn-

Manu Chao is a French-Spanish singer. His music style reflects different cultures, and he sings in French, Greek, Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, Galician, Catalan, and other languages. He began his music career as a street performer and played with groups that combined a variety of languages and musical styles. He founded the band Mano Negra in 1987, which achieved success in Europe in 1995; he became a solo artist since he tours regularly with his live band, Radio Bemba.

In 1998, he released an album, Clandestino which earned the Best World Music Album award in 1999鈥檚 Victoires de la Musique awards. The album sold more than 5 million copies.

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16. Catherine Ringer

Catherine is a French singer born in a musical background family, and she began her professional career in the late 1970s. In 1976, she met Marcia Moretto, an Argentine dancer and choreographer with whom she studied and performed in various venues in Paris. She is the co-founder of the pop-rock group Les Rita Mitsouko. Her hits songs include Marcia Baila, Vive l鈥檃mour and La Mano Encima.

17. Renaud

Renaud. Photo by Thesupermat-

He is a famous French singer known for his broken voice and unique vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in France, including Mistral gagnant, Des que le vent soufflera and the ballad Morgane de toi.

18. Barbara

Barbara, whose actual name is Monique And茅e Serf, was a French singer. In the late 1950s, she became a famous cabaretiere before she started performing her tracks, which brought her fame. Her famous songs include Dis, quand reviendras-tu, L鈥橝igle noir and Ma plus belle histoire d鈥檃mour.

A Paris metro station was named after her, located adjacent to where she was buried.

19. Yodelice

Yodelice. Photo by Thesupermat-Wikimedia

Yodelice is a French singer and songwriter who performs in English, and his music comprises of rock, pop and rock music. He learned how to play the piano at six, and at 15, he began to attend classes at the Musician Institute of London. As of 2014, he has released five albums: Maxim Nucci in 2006, Tree of Life in 2009, Cardioid in 2010, Square Eyes in 2013 and Like a Million Dreams. In 2010, he was Victoires de la Musique was awarded the best new artist prize.

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20. Jain 

Jeanne Louise Galice, better known as Jain, is a well-established French singer and guitarist. She started her music career in 2013 when she met Mr. Flash, who made her gain interest in musical programming. Yodelice was interested in her and invited her to Paris. Yodelice became her manager and remains so today, and he helped to launch her career.

Yodelice became her producer and worked on her EP, which was released on June 22, 2015. Her song Come gained considerable success in France and Spain and was certified Diamond in France.