Pascal Obispo

From the middle of the 1990s onward, Pascal Obispo ranked among the leading figures in French pop as a singer and songwriter. He issued one commercial triumph after another, placed single after single inside the Top Ten, filled concert halls on tour after tour, composed the songs for a musical conceived from his own concept, and worked alongside numerous French pop figures ranging from Florent Pagny to Fatal Bazooka.

Pascal Obispo entered the world on January 8, 1965, in Bergerac, France. His first solo album, Le Long du Fleuve, appeared on EMI in 1990; the project, created with Franck Darcel, failed to gain traction and is frequently forgotten. His next release, Plus Que Tout au Monde, arrived in 1992 and marked the start of an enduring partnership with Sony Music. Nick Patrick, who had just finished work with the Gipsy Kings, handled production, and the record yielded the singles “Plus Que Tout au Monde” and “Tu Vas Me Manquer.”

Un Jour Comme Aujourd’hui followed in 1994 and proved equally popular, generating the tracks “Tombé Pour Elle” and “Tu Compliques Tout.” After joining Céline Dion on the road, Obispo reached a new peak of popularity in 1996 when Superflu climbed to number two on the French albums chart. The album delivered the Top Ten singles “Personne” and “Lucie,” moved more than a million copies to earn diamond certification, and remained on the chart for close to two years. In the aftermath, he joined Florent Pagny for the 1997 album Savoir Aimer, whose title track topped the charts, and Johnny Hallyday for Ce Que Je Sais in 1998. That same year he mounted a tour later captured on the number-one live set Live 98.

Soledad appeared in 1999, accompanied by another project with Pagny titled RéCréation and by his co-writing and production work on Patricia Kaas’ chart-topping Le Mot de Passe. Early in the new decade, the fresh studio cut “Millésime” gave Obispo a Top Five hit on the 2001 live album Millésime Live 00/01. Studio Fan: Live Fan, issued in 2004, likewise blended studio and live material and introduced the number-one single “Fan” along with the Top Ten entries “Zinedine” and “Mourir Demain.” The major studio albums that followed in the decade, Les Fleurs du Bien in 2006 and Welcome to the Magic World of Captain Samouraï Flower in 2009, again proved major sellers.

Beginning in 2009, Obispo devoted time to realizing his concept for the musical comedy Adam et Ève: La Seconde Chance. The production was staged live, filmed, and recorded for a 2011 release that featured Thierry Amiel in a leading role. He also prepared the 2013 compilation Millésimes, which gathered hits, duets, and live performances. Before the year ended he delivered his ninth studio album, Le Grand Amour, which rose to number three. His tenth studio album, Billet de Femme, arrived in 2016 and set the poetry of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore to music, returning Obispo to the top of the French chart for the first time in several years.