Noir Désir

Noir Désir, a French alternative band, assembled in the early 1980s with Bertrand Cantat on vocals and guitar, Serge Teyssot-Gay on guitar, Frédéric Vidalenc on bass, and Denis Barthe on drums. The group issued its opening EP, Ou Veux-Tu Que J'Regarde, in 1987. Two years afterward came the debut album Veuillez Rendre l'Âme (A Qui Elle Appartient). Harder, more punk-oriented traits surfaced on the follow-up Du Ciment Sous les Plaines in 1990 and carried through Tostaky in 1992. After the live double album Dies Irae, wider recognition arrived with 666667 Club in 1996. The band sustained activity into the early 2000s by releasing albums every few years. In 2003 lead singer Bertrand Cantat faced charges over the death of his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, who succumbed on August 1 to head injuries inflicted by Cantat during a domestic dispute. He received a manslaughter conviction and served four years in prison.