Didier Barbelivien

Didier Barbelivien entered the world on March 10, 1954, in Paris, France, and launched his songwriting career in the early 1970s after first establishing himself as a French pop singer and songwriter whose material reached an array of major artists during that decade and later achieved solo prominence. Commercial recordings of his compositions surfaced as early as Gérard Stern’s “Je T’aime Nue” in 1971 and François Valéry’s “Le Prince d’Amour” in 1974. Starting in 1975, Christophe, Gérard Lenorman, Marie Laforêt, and Michèle Torr regularly interpreted his songs, alongside other prominent French pop figures. Concurrently, Polydor issued his initial singles, which included “Alcools” in 1976, “I’m Singing” in 1977, and “La Petite Fille de Bretagne” in 1978. His first full-length album, Elle, appeared on Picabou in 1980. Additional releases followed on Charles Talar Records, among them Elsa in 1982 and Là où Je T’aime in 1984. Throughout the 1980s, as his own performing profile grew, Michel Sardou, Demis Roussos, Patricia Kaas, and Celine Dion continued to record his work. A major commercial breakthrough arrived in 1990 through his partnership with Félix Gray, yielding the chart-topping successes “À Toutes les Filles...” and “Il Faut Laisser le Temps au Temps.” The following year brought further hits with the Top Five single “E Vado Via,” the Top 20 entry “Nos Amours Cassées,” and the number-two collaboration “Les Mariés de Vendée” alongside Anaïs. Numerous greatest-hits anthologies appeared across the 1990s, most prominently the 1996 three-volume set comprising Elle, Vol. 1, Il Faut Laisser le Temps au Temps, Vol. 2, and Peut-être Toi, Peut-être une Autre, Vol. 3. Fresh studio albums also emerged, such as Yesterday les Beatles in 1997, Chanteur Français in 2001, Envoie les Clowns in 2005, and Etat des Lieux in 2007. In 2009, the year he received the title of Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, Atelier d’Artistes reached the French top ten, while Mes Préférences peaked at number four in 2011. Four years elapsed before the 2013 return marked by Dédicacé.