France ranks among the top cradles of culture and its language is widely considered to be one of the world’s most melodic. It’s therefore no surprise that France has produced plenty of true musical talent. We’ve put together a selection of famous French musicians, past and present, and representing all the genres.
Some musical artists and French composers will be familiar but others might not feature on your Spotify radar yet. From famous French songs and famous French singers to pop music and unique French musical outputs, read on to find out who to add to your French music playlist.
Best for poetic piano – Claude Debussy
Debussy takes the prize when it comes to French artistic talent in classical music terms. His romantic piano works include some of the world’s best-known and loved compositions. Clair de Lune and Prélude à l’apres-midi d’un faune, a symphonic poem, are among them as well as La Mer, inspired by Claude Monet’s works.
Visit the Claude Debussy Museum at his place of birth in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Paris.
Best for all kinds of pop music – Air
The duo, made up of an architect and mathematician from Versailles, came together to form one of the most influential electronica bands in France. And mixing dream pop, space pop and electronic pop like no other. Their debut, Sexy Boy, in 1998 was an instant success for popular French music. And further glory, embedding them as a French music artist of acclaim, included writing the score for Sophia Coppola’s debut feature film, Virgin Suicides.
Best for mixing flamenco and pop – the Gypsy Kings
The original members of the world-famous band have their roots in their Spanish gypsy ancestry although they hail from Arles and Montpellier. The Gypsy Kings started as a flamenco group but quickly evolved into rumba flamenco and flamenco pop with massive success worldwide with singles like Volare and Bamboleo. Their compositions have also been part of soundtracks such as Toy Story 3 and The Big Lebowski.
Tap your feet and click your fingers to the flamenco pop version of You’ve got a friend in me.
See the stunning sights that inspired the Gypsy Kings in their early days when you take a luxury barge cruise in Provence.
Best for getting lucky – Daft Punk
The uber-catchy Get Lucky was an instant worldwide hit in 2013 (the YouTube video has over 593 million views!) for Daft Punk duo, famous for appearing clad in robot helmets. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo launched their hugely successful career in electronica in 1997 before they split up in 2021.
Listen to Get Lucky featuring Pharrel Williams in his famous hat and Chic’s Nile Rodgers.
Best for jazz violin – Stephane Grappeli
Born in Paris in 1908, Grappelli revealed an early talent for the violin and is now considered one of the world’s virtuosos on the instrument. His Quintette du Hot Club de France took the European jazz scene by storm in the ’30s and he went on to record and perform jazz with some of the greatest names. Just before his death in 1997, he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award recognising his contribution as a musical artist.
Enjoy Grappelli playing I got rhythm in New Orleans in 1984.
Read our guide to festivals where you can enjoy hearing French musicians perform live.
Best for a taxi – Vanessa Paradis
Something of a child prodigy, Paradis is a French female singer who found early worldwide fame with her smash hit Joe le Taxi when she was a mere 14. Just four years later, she received the highest accolades for an actress in French and then went on a successful career in both the concert hall and on the big screen. She has shared the stage with big names such as Alain Delon, Lennie Kravitz and Johnny Depp, her former husband.
Watch a remastered version of the very young Paradis performing her first hit.
Best for waking up in Paris – Jacques Dutronc
And best for rock ‘n roll à la française generally as Dutronc was one of the most famous French male singer songwriters in the ’60s and early ’70s. He started his musical career on the guitar and writing songs for his wife, Françoise Hardy before branching out solo. He’s considered the first authentic French rock ‘n roll singer and among his most acclaimed solo songs are Les play boys and Il est cinq heures, Paris s’éveille.
Listen to Paris wake up to Dutronc with a haunting accompanying flute.
See the Paris monuments Dutronc mentions when you take a Seine barge cruise.
Best for non-musical masterpieces – Joseph Maurice Ravel
Like Debussy, Ravel was living in France at the time of the Impressionist movement although his music encompassed a wide range of genres that included jazz towards the end of his life. From Cibourne near Biarritz, Ravel was one of the first French musicians to record his music to reach a wider audience. His works included operas, ballets and a piece for a cappella choir, but his most famous piece is undoubtedly Bolero, a composition he referred to as a “masterpiece with no music in it”.
Listen to André Previn conducting the London Symphonic Orchestra as they play Bolero.
Best for the chanson – Jacques Brel
Actually Belgian, but one of the most acclaimed French musicians, Brel is known as the master of the modern chanson. Although he sang in French, Brel was a huge influence on many English-language singers including David Bowie and Scott Walker. Others such as Nina Simone, Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles recorded English versions of his songs. Like Paradis, Brel also had a successful career in film.
Listen to this French song and Brel classic, Ne me quitte pas.
Best for provocation and songwriting – Serge Gainsbourg
Perhaps the greatest songwriter in France and one of the country’s biggest cult heroes, Gainsbourg had a long career of singing and songwriting, interspersed with tumultuous love affairs, controversial statements and five packs of Gitane a day. His best-known and perhaps the ultimate French love song is Je t’aime, moi non plus.
His version sung with Jane Birkin in 1969 was censored across the globe but nevertheless reached number one in the UK. When he died in 1991, the whole country mourned the loss of one of the greatest French musicians.
Decide for yourself whether it should have been censored!
Discover the most famous film locations in France
Best for yé-yé – France Gall
Gall also started her musical career early when she released her first hit single at 16 in 1963 and opening the Sasha Distell tour in Belgium shortly afterwards. But her real fame arrived when she won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 with Poupée de cire, poupée de son (written by Gainsbourg), not as a French singer but rather representing Luxembourg. She then went on to a varied career, singing in French and German, and on film.
Watch Gall’s live performance at Eurovision (where she was criticised for singing out of tune…)
Best French version of Elvis – Johnny Hallyday
And national icon of French culture when it comes to rock ‘n roll in the French language, Hallyday is probably the best loved French music artist and was known simply as Johnny and as a “monument national”. His singing career lasted almost 60 years during which he sold more than 110 million records worldwide.
Among his best-known tracks are Je suis né dans la rue accompanied by Peter Frampton and the Small Faces, Tous ensemble and Mon plus beau Nöel. His good looks and hip-gyrating moves earned him the nickname as the French Elvis Presley.
Get up and dance to Johnny’s popular French music version of Let’s Twist Again.
Best chanteuse of all – Edith Piaf
No list of famous French musicians would be complete without Piaf, whose classics Je ne regrette rien and La vie en rose are among the world’s most famous ballads. Petite but with a prodigious voice, Piaf was known as the ‘La Môme Piaf’ (the Waif Sparrow) when she first performed at nightclubs in the ’30s in her native Paris. She also acted, wrote songs (including La vie en rose) and had love affairs with the actor, Yves Montand and boxer and national hero, Marcel Cerdan.
Remind yourself of life in pink with Piaf in a live version from 1954.
PS: ‘La Vie en Rose‘ is also a luxury barge cruising through the heart of Burgundy, named in Piaf’s honour.
Other French musicians
Our list is by no means definitive and there are thousands of other French singers and composers, established and emerging, waiting for you to discover their unique take on music. Many of them perform at annual festivals in France or at small local events, sometimes planned and others, ad hoc.
Discovering them is just one of the joys of travelling the waterways in France, not to mention the stunning scenery, unique history and delicious food on board. Take a look at what’s on offer and then pick your next holiday in France
