Serge Lama

Serge Lama stands out as one of the most classically oriented French chanson composers. His robust and commanding vocal delivery, paired with an exceptionally dramatic and expressive performance style, has frequently drawn parallels to Jacques Brel. The name of a publication he authored reveals his thematic preferences as a wordsmith: Sentiment, Sexe et Solitude (Feeling, Sex and Solitude). During the closing years of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, he scored several successful singles, with "Je Suis Malade" emerging as the standout, and reached the height of his fame in the 1980s thanks to the triumph of his stage production, Napoléon.

Born as Serge Chauvier in 1943, Lama grew up surrounded by music because his father had pursued a career as an opera singer. Witnessing his father abandon that path to ensure financial stability for the family profoundly shaped Serge, prompting him to vow he would achieve what his father could not. An avid writer, Lama soon sought performance opportunities and was noticed by none other than Barbara, who secured recurring gigs for him at her regular Parisian venue, L'Écluse. This opportunity proved pivotal, leading him to begin his recording career in 1964 with an initial EP containing four tracks. His prospects improved further when he received an invitation to support Georges Brassens, sharing the bill with Barbara, at Bobino during that same year. In 1965, the single "Les Ballons Rouges" was issued. However, a devastating automobile crash abruptly halted this rapid rise, resulting in the death of his girlfriend and leaving him severely disabled after losing function in nearly his entire body. His swift return to performing in the subsequent months, aided by Georges Brassens, only enhanced his mystique.

Resuming his recording activities in 1967, Lama assembled a consistent songwriting and production team over the following decade that included composers Yves Gilbert and Alice Dona along with arranger Jean-Claude Petit, delivering a series of well-received singles such as "Je Suis Malade" and "Les Petites Femmes de Pigalle." Certain lyrical themes drew criticism, with detractors labeling him a male chauvinist, especially regarding numbers like "Femmes, Femmes, Femmes" and "Superman," yet such controversies failed to impede his growing acclaim as his live shows drew increasingly larger crowds. In the early 1980s, he devoted time to crafting a musical centered on the historical figure Napoléon Bonaparte, a character that fascinated Lama, titling it simply Napoléon. The production achieved widespread success and acclaim, extending performances beyond France into Belgium, Switzerland, and even Quebec. This marked a shift in Lama's path, as he departed the recording industry following Napoléon to pursue acting roles.

His return to music occurred in 1994 via the self-titled release Lama, after which he resumed touring and recording across the 1990s and 2000s, though with diminished prominence, supported by his dedicated followers. Lama remained his sole studio effort of the 1990s, complemented by a 1998 live recording captured at the iconic Olympia in Paris backed by a symphony orchestra. While prioritizing acting throughout the 2000s, he maintained visibility among record buyers through three modestly performing albums: Feuille à Feuille (2001), PluriElles (2003)—which featured collaborations with various female performers—and L'Âge d'Horizons (2008). After a brief pause due to hip surgery, he reemerged in 2012 with La Balade du Poète, a two-disc set of reinterpreted classics, and embarked on a 2013 tour marking both his 70th birthday and an impressive 50 years in the profession.