Laurent Voulzy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Lucien Voulzy |
| Born | 18 December 1948 Paris, France |
| Genres | Alternative rock, French pop, pop rock, experimental, chanson, soft rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Website | laurentvoulzy.com <FR> |
Lucien Voulzy (French pronunciation: [lysjɛ̃ vulzi], born 18 December 1948), better known as Laurent Voulzy ([loʁɑ̃ vulzi]), is a French singer-songwriter, composer and musician.
Life and career
Voulzy was born in Paris, France. He originally led the English-pop-influenced Le Temple de Vénus before joining Pascal Danel as guitarist from 1969 to 1974. However, he is best known for his collaborative songwriting efforts with singer-songwriter Alain Souchon and his solo singing career, which spanned several successful singles and albums.
Voulzy had an international hit with the song "Rockollection".[1] The French lyrics were interspersed with some lines from classic rock hits after the chorus.
His major hits also include the singles "Paradoxal Système" (which reached the French Top 10), "Le Soleil Donne"[2] – sung in French, English and Spanish –[3] and the double "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie-Galante"/"Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde"[4] ("Nights without Kim Wilde"; a song[5] inspired[6] by the chart-topping English singer).[7] Other songs entered the French charts ("Bopper en larmes", "Le coeur Grenadine", "Désir, désir", etc.).[8]
Voulzy also enjoys success in Belgium, Switzerland and Québec; and although being a French artist, his songs often contain multiple languages (including lyrics in English,[9] Spanish,[10] Portuguese,[11] German, etc.).
In 2005, he co-produced and co-composed Nolwenn Leroy's second album Histoires Naturelles.
Voulzy had a huge hit with his album La Septième Vague which reached number one in 2006. Featured on the album is a cover of the Everly Brothers hit "All I Have to Do Is Dream", recorded as a duet with Irish singer Andrea Corr. The song was released as a single and was also included on The Corrs' greatest hits album Dreams: The Ultimate Corrs Collection.
He recorded in 2007 a duet with the French guitarist Jean-Pierre Danel on his hit album Guitar Connection 2. The song hit the French charts at No. 7 in 2008. For his 2011 album, Lys and Love, Voulzy recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with English singer Roger Daltrey of The Who.[12] In 2007, He toured France.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Record label |
Peak positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Fl) |
BEL (Wa) [14] |
SWI [15] | |||
| 1979 | Le Cœur grenadine | RCA | ||||
| 1983 | Bopper en larmes | |||||
| 1992 | Caché derrière | Ariola | 9[16] | |||
| 2001 | Avril | RCA | 3 | — | 4 | 50 |
| 2006 | La Septième Vague | 1 | — | 1 | 7 | |
| 2008 | Recollection | 2 | — | 1 | 20 | |
| 2011 | Lys & Love | Columbia | 2 | — | 1 | 30 |
| 2014 | Alain Souchon & Laurent Voulzy (joint album with Alain Souchon) |
Parlophone | 1 | 117 | 1 | 8 |
| 2017 | Belem | Columbia | 5 | — | 4 | 31 |
| 2020 | Florilège | 43 | — | 20 | 95 | |
Live albums
| Year | Album | Record label |
Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Wa) |
SWI | |||
| 1994 | Voulzy Tour | Ariola | 5[16] | ||
| 2004 | Le Gothique flamboyant pop dancing tour | RCA | 10 | 12 | |
| 2013 | Lys & Love Tour (live) | Columbia | 18 | 28 | |
| 2019 | Mont Saint-Michel (live) | 24 [17] |
24 | 89 | |
Compilations
| Year | Album | Record label |
Peak positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Wa) |
SWI | |||
| 2002 | Les Essentiels 1977–1988 | RCA | 6[16] | ||
| 2003 | Saisons, Le double best of 1977–2003 | 2[16] | 8 | 46 | |
| 2012 | Belle île en mer 1977–1988 | Columbia | 167 | – | – |
Singles
- 1977: "Rockollection"
- 1978: "Bubble Star"
- 1979: "Le Cœur grenadine"
- 1979: "Karin Redinger"
- 1979: "Cocktail chez Mademoiselle"
- 1980: "Surfing Jack"
- 1981: "Idéal simplifié"
- 1983: "Bopper en larmes"
- 1983: "Liebe"
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Sales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FR [13] |
BEL (Wa) |
SWI | |||
| 1984 | "Désir désir" (duo with Véronique Jannot) |
29 |
| ||
| 1985 | "Belle-Île-en-Mer, Marie Galante" / "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" (featuring Kim Wilde) |
20 | |||
| 1987 | "My Song of You" | 31 | |||
| 1989 | "Le soleil donne" | 21 | |||
| 1992 | "Paradoxal Système" | 10 | |||
| 1993 | "Le pouvoir des fleurs" | – | |||
| "Caché derrière" | – | ||||
| "Le rêve du pêcheur" | 37 | ||||
| 1995 | "Rockollection (Live 95)" | 37 | 39 | ||
| 2001 | "Une héroïne" | – | – | ||
| 2002 | "La fille d'Avril" | 26 | 8 (Ultratip) |
||
| "Amélie Colbert" | 36 | – | |||
| 2003 | "Là où je vais" | – | – | ||
| 2006 | "Derniers baisers" | 8 | 17 | 96 | |
| 2008 | "My Song of You" (instrumental duo with Jean-Pierre Danel) |
– | – | – | |
| "Jelly Bean" | – | 3 (Ultratip) |
– | ||
| 2009 | "Le vent qui va" | – | – | – | |
| 2011 | "Jeanne" | 14 | 4 | – | |
| 2012 | "C'était déjà toi" | – | 6 (Ultratip) |
– | |
| "En regardant vers le pays de France" (featuring Nolwenn Leroy, backing vocals) |
– | 15 (Ultratip) |
– | ||
| 2014 | "Derrière les mots" (duet with Alain Souchon) |
35 | 22 | – | |
| "La baie des fourmis" (duet with Alain Souchon) |
197 | – | – | ||
| 2017 | "Spirit of Samba" (featuring Chyler Leigh, Nina Miranda and Luisa Maita) |
99 [19] |
– | – | |
References
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Rockollection Part I". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Le soleil donne". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ "Laurent Voulzy- le soleil donne (1988)". YouTube.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Laurent Voulzy - Belle-île-en mer, Marie Galante". lescharts.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde".
- ^ L. Voulzy and K. Wilde singing together "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" in a French TV show in 1986
- ^ "Laurent Voulzy les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde". YouTube.
- ^ The Best of Laurent Voulzy - Archive INA
- ^ Live performance of "Les Nuits Sans Kim Wilde" - "Voulzy Tour" at Le Zénith de Paris, 1993
- ^ Live performance of "Le Soleil Donne" - "Voulzy Tour" at Le Zénith de Paris, 1993
- ^ "Meu Samba Pra Você", from the album Bopper en larmes, 1983
- ^ "Un duo avec Roger Daltrey (The Who) sur le prochain Voulzy". 15 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Laurent Voulzy discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "Discographie Laurent Voulzy". Ultratop. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ "Discographie Laurent Voulzy". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- ^ a b c d "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste".
- ^ "Top Albums (Week 50, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
- ^ "Euro-crossover" (PDF). Music & Media. 29 April 1985. p. 5. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
- ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Singles Téléchargés – SNEP (Week 37, 2017)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 19 September 2017.[permanent dead link]
External links
- (in French) Laurent Voulzy (official site)
- Biography of Laurent Voulzy, from Radio France Internationale
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
This page was last edited on 26 December 2023, at 00:38